Other Poverty Study
351 items available
Permanent URI for this collection
Items in this collection
1 - 4 of 4
-
Publication
Energy Subsidies Reform in Jordan: Welfare Implications of Different Scenarios
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05-31)As the Arab Spring unfolded and political unrest spread across the Arab world, Jordan faced an adverse economy as well. Fundamental to the economic challenge was high and rising energy prices, already heavily subsidized for consumers. With the government intent on staving off emerging political unrest through a series of measures, buffering consumers from increased energy prices being a key action, fiscal costs mounted. By 2012, subsidies on petroleum products alone were about 2.8 percent of GDP and 8.8 percent of government expenditures. At the same time, political unrest disrupted the supply of natural gas from Egypt and Jordan abruptly had to switch to using imported oil products (heavy fuel oil and diesel) to produce electricity. Consequently, the cost of producing electricity increased several folds. As the increased cost was not passed on to the consumers, National Electric Power company (NEPCO), bore all the increases in fuel prices and accumulate debt as a result. At approximately 17 percent of government expenditures and 5.5 percent of GDP in 2011, this was twice the amount of the petroleum subsidies. The chapter is organized as follows. Section two traces the evolution of subsidies in Jordan in recent times. The distributional impacts of reform would depend on how important the subsidized items are to consumers in terms of their expenditures on those items. Section three discusses this question from the perspective of richer and poorer households. The distributional impacts of reform would of course not only depend on how much consumers spend on the subsidized items but also on the extent of price changes. Sections four and five simulate direct and indirect impacts of potential reform scenarios across the income distribution. From this discussion, in section six the chapter moves onto considering how reforms are weighed down by vexing political economy constraints. In MENA countries, universal subsidies have been in place as part of the government’s role in ensuring stability in the lives of the people and doing away with them is not straightforward. -
Publication
Over the Horizon : A New Levant
(Washington, DC, 2014-03)The report is organized as follows. The report begins by providing an analytical basis for the evaluation of potential bilateral economic complementarities between Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, and the Palestinian Territories (where data is available) in chapter one. The analysis goes beyond the aggregate level in order to examine the scope for regional trade and investment in particular industries or products. Building on an analysis of economic complementarities and trade and investment potentials in the sub-region, chapter two analyzes the economic implications of a deeper regional integration. A CGE model examines four scenarios emphasizing different aspects of trade relations among possible members of a new economic integration zone. Chapter three reviews and compares the trade and investment regimes of the Levant countries with a view to identifying the areas of reforms needed to harmonize their policies in order to improve competitiveness collectively and increase trade and investment flows among them. Chapter four reviews the services sectors and levels of regulatory restrictiveness in the context of efforts at regional and global integration of Levant economies. The chapter identifies existing and potential barriers to integrating services markets of the sample countries within the Levant region, and advances a number of policy recommendations centered on the promotion of closer regulatory ties in services markets and expanded trade in services. Chapter five-eight focus on five sectors for an in-depth analysis (financial services, energy, ICT and air transport, and tourism) discussing how liberalization of services trade under the framework of deeper regional economic integration would help countries take advantage of the regional opportunities, including an overview for trade in services in the sub-region. Chapter nine analyzes barriers to deeper regional integration in the Levant, focusing on non-tariff measures, trade facilitation, and logistics issues, and proposes policies to remove these barriers. Finally, chapter ten reviews the current regional agreements, identifies the weaknesses and proposes recommendations for a possible economic zone in the medium to long term. -
Publication
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - Poverty Update : Appendices
(World Bank, 2009-11-01)This report is a joint product of the Jordanian Department of Statistics (DOS) and the World Bank. The report has four goals: 1) update the official Jordanian poverty line based on the 2006 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) using the methodology previously applied for the poverty assessment in 2002; 2) describe recent poverty trends; 3) understand the reasons for the discrepancy between the results of formal statistical analysis and popular perceptions of poverty trends; and 4) provide preliminary information about the distributional impacts of fuel subsidies and measures to compensate for fuel subsidy elimination. Using 2006 as the base year, the Jordanian poverty line was JD 46.3 per person per month. In 2006, 13 percent of the population was below the poverty line. The highest rate of poverty was observed in Mafraq governorate. Although Amman has the lowest poverty rate of all governorates, it is home to the largest number of poor individuals due to the concentration of population in Amman. Several sub-districts, including Rwashed, Wadi Araba and Aghwar Janoobiyah have very high rates of poverty. Disturbingly, income would have fallen for most Jordanians if not for growth in transfer income. The growth in transfer income was primarily due to transfers made to compensate for the April 2006 fuel price increases and gifts to government employees announced by the King on holidays. Income before transfers is comprised mainly of property/rental and labor income. Property/rental income fell between 2002 and 2006, apparently reflecting the dis-saving trend also observed at the macro level. Labor income was stagnant for most Jordanians, although the wealthiest quintile saw significant gains. -
Publication
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - Poverty Update : Main Report
(World Bank, 2009-11-01)This report is a joint product of the Jordanian Department of Statistics (DOS) and the World Bank. The report has four goals: 1) update the official Jordanian poverty line based on the 2006 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) using the methodology previously applied for the poverty assessment in 2002; 2) describe recent poverty trends; 3) understand the reasons for the discrepancy between the results of formal statistical analysis and popular perceptions of poverty trends; and 4) provide preliminary information about the distributional impacts of fuel subsidies and measures to compensate for fuel subsidy elimination. Using 2006 as the base year, the Jordanian poverty line was JD 46.3 per person per month. In 2006, 13 percent of the population was below the poverty line. The highest rate of poverty was observed in Mafraq governorate. Although Amman has the lowest poverty rate of all governorates, it is home to the largest number of poor individuals due to the concentration of population in Amman. Several sub-districts, including Rwashed, Wadi Araba and Aghwar Janoobiyah have very high rates of poverty. Disturbingly, income would have fallen for most Jordanians if not for growth in transfer income. The growth in transfer income was primarily due to transfers made to compensate for the April 2006 fuel price increases and gifts to government employees announced by the King on holidays. Income before transfers is comprised mainly of property/rental and labor income. Property/rental income fell between 2002 and 2006, apparently reflecting the dis-saving trend also observed at the macro level. Labor income was stagnant for most Jordanians, although the wealthiest quintile saw significant gains.