Other Public Sector Study

315 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    The World Bank's Support for Subnational Governance in Large Federal Countries: Lessons Learned from Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Stoykov, Petar Georgiev ; Yilmaz, Serdar
    Limited local tax revenue and low public sector efficiency are two critical problems of public sector management and key constraints for the economic and social development of many subnational governments in large federal countries. To create fiscal space without compromising macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability, there is a need for reforms that lead to better use of public resources and improved expenditure efficiency through reforms in budgeting, procurement, and tax administration. This note presents lessons learned from the World Bank’s subnational governance projects in three large federal countries - Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria - between 2008-2017. These lessons learned can be useful in shaping the design of future subnational governance projects in other federal countries, particularly those projects seeking to improve service delivery, public expenditure systems and core governance institutions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Ghana: Enhancing Revenue Mobilization Through Improved Tax Compliance and Administrative Systems
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11-13) World Bank
    Ghana’s tax collection is low compared with other lower middle-income countries. Non-compliance of tax payments is an urgent issue in Ghana, as the government has been suffering from a widening fiscal deficit and a rising debt burden. Learning from experiences in other countries, this report proposes potential interventions that could improve tax compliance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Ghana Tax Gap Analysis
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11-13) World Bank
    The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the tax gap in Ghana, and help the Government of Ghana identify the areas where they can increase tax revenue by improving compliance. Tax gap for corporate income tax, import tax, estimated value added tax, and potential tax revenue from formalization of informal firms were investigated.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Guinea - Opportunities for Enhanced Domestic Revenue Mobilization: Value-Added Tax and Excise Taxes
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-05-01) World Bank
    Revenue mobilization is a key constraint to economic development in the Republic of Guinea. The government’s five-year development plan (2016-2020) aims at fostering higher and more inclusive growth through public investments that require financing beyond current fiscal capacity. In this context, Guinea is seeking to efficiently raise additional domestic revenues and external investment financing. Development partners are supporting Guinea with technical assistance for revenue mobilization. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union are supporting authorities with direct tax policy, non-tax revenue, and administration issues. The objective of this report is to shed light on indirect taxes, particularly value-added tax (VAT) and excise taxes. The report provides an overview of the main features of tax policy and administration in Guinea, followed by a more detailed analysis of VAT and excise taxes. The focus on indirect taxation is a result of both its significant revenue potential and coordination with other development partners. The analysis presented fills an important gap in the understanding of how Guinea can increase its tax revenues. On VAT, the study finds that addressing policy and administrative constraints can mobilize additional revenues while improving the business climate. On excise taxation, the study finds that existing excise rates are unevenly applied, with scope for raising rates in the future. To systematically address its revenue challenges across all tax types, Guinea should also consider development of a medium-term revenue strategy (MTRS). The report is structured as follows: in the first section, an overview of the evolution and composition of domestic revenues in Guinea is presented. In the second section, VAT is analyzed. The final section reviews excise tax policy and its implementation on international goods and domestic goods.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Gabon: Assessment of the Impact of Tobacco Excise Tax Increases on Price, Consumption and Tax Revenue over 2018-2021
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04-25) World Bank Group
    This report presents the results of the assessment that simulates the fiscal revenue and consumption impact of proposed tobacco tax increases in Gabon in the period 2018–2021.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Ethiopia: Modelling the Impact of Tobacco Tax Policy Reforms on Tobacco Use and Domestic Resources Mobilization Under Different Scenarios
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-01-23) World Bank Group
    As part of the ongoing tax policy dialogue with the Government of Ethiopia, the World BankGroup organized a workshop in Addis Ababa, on June 20, 2016, to discuss tobacco use, its healthimpact, and excise taxes on tobacco as a public policy measure to reduce tobacco use, and hencethe risk of ill health, premature mortality, and disability due to tobacco-related diseases, andmobilize additional domestic resources to expand the fiscal capacity of the government, inaccordance with the Financing for Development Addis Ababa Action Agenda. This event wasattended by officials from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Finance & EconomicCooperation (MoFEC). Ethiopia's Health Sector Transformation Plan 2015-2020 lists noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) as one of the major public health challenges facing the country. As in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, NCDs are expected to become the leading cause of ill health and death by 2030, influenced by rapid urbanization, rapid per capita economic growth, increase in behavioral risk factors (most NCDs are the result of tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and/or the harmful use of alcohol), and improvements in the control of infectious diseases that increase life expectancy. As NCDs have become a major health burden in the country, the Government has put in place ambitious targets to reduce the prevalence of the main health risk factors associated with the onset of NCDs among the population. The strategy focuses on increasing prevention and control of the main risk factors: tobacco use and alcohol abuse, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet, which contribute to about 80 percent of NCDs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: Evaluation of MDGs Specific Purpose Grant to Regions
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03-29) World Bank
    Ethiopia is a highly decentralized country. Presently, sub-national government taxes and revenues account for about 28 percent of general taxes and revenues, and sub-national expenditures amount to 51 percent of general government expenditures. The ensuing vertical mismatch is bridged by grants from the Federal government to the regions. Presently, these grants account for 57 percent of sub-national expenditures1. For many years, these grants consisted mostly of a block grant (the Federal General Purpose Grant) given without any strings attached, which means the regions could use it as they wished. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Section two provides the policy context that is the information, data, evolutions, etc. specific to Ethiopia, which are necessary to understand and interpret the MDGs grant policy. Section three present and discusses the policy content that is the components of the policy previously identified. Section four is a policy assessment, which utilizes the evaluation framework proposed above to analyze the relationships between the various components of the policy, and discuss its efficiency, its effectiveness and its success. Section five is a conclusion that summarizes the analysis, and attempts, prudently and modestly, to outline some potential avenues for future action.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Decentralization, Accountability and Local Services in Sierra Leone : Situation Analysis, Key Challenges and Opportunities for Reform
    (Washington, DC, 2014-04-02) World Bank
    Following years of civil war that ended in 2002, Sierra Leone has pursued a policy of decentralization, devolving responsibility for many government functions to the Local Council level. The aims of this policy include achieving a more equitable and inclusive access to public services across the national territory, in part to alleviate regional inequities that contributed to the civil war. The implementation of the decentralization policy has faced many obstacles, however, including the need to rebuild local government institutions and capacity after 30 years of centrally dominated governance; the limited devolution of financial resources; and multifaceted political economy hurdles. This report, first, analyzes the current state of decentralization in Sierra Leone; second, identifies the most prominent challenges to continued decentralization; and, third, discusses options for the way forward. The report draws on qualitative and quantitative data collected from both central and local government stakeholders, and takes the perspective that decentralization and strengthened local governance institutions are an effective means to localize development and improve the effective and equitable delivery of key public services. The study focuses on progress to date and standing challenges in four key areas of analysis: fiscal decentralization, human resource decentralization, ensuring inclusivity and accountability in local governance, and ensuring efficiency and responsiveness in service delivery.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Fiscal Policies and Institutions for Shared Growth in Kenya : Lessons from the Global Crisis
    (Washington, DC, 2010-04) World Bank
    This report brings together three budget notes that assess Kenya's fiscal capacity to respond to global crisis and deliver shared growth without compromising macroeconomic stability. The report is organized into three notes. The key messages from this analysis point to areas where Kenya's fiscal policy requires strengthening. The first note is an assessment of Kenya's fiscal stance and suggests an appropriate fiscal anchor for Kenya. The second note reviews the status of public investment in Kenya and suggests the reforms required to improve public investment planning and implementation. The subject of the third note is pro-poor spending and targeted subsidy programs. This study concludes that the targeted cash transfers, unemployment benefits, and workfare programs provide automatic stabilizers for fiscal policy during crisis.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Democratic Republic of Congo - The Impact of the 'Decoupage' : Executive Summary
    (World Bank, 2010-03-01) World Bank
    In its new Constitution, proclaimed on February 18, 2006, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) committed itself to reforming its administrative and territorial architecture. Following this reform, the country, which now has 11 provinces, will be subdivided into 26 provinces. According to constitutional provisions, the transition from 11 to 26 provinces is to take place within three years after the establishment of the third Republic's main governing institutions. The Senate, the final institution to be established, was set up in May 2007, and the country's new administrative structure should be implemented by May 2010 at the latest. The aim of this study, which was carried out at the request of the Government of the DRC and jointly financed by the World Bank, the Belgian Development Cooperation, the European Commission, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is an in depth analysis of the main aspects of the decoupage process. It includes an assessment of the administrative and institutional capacity of the new provinces and an examination of their financial and budgetary sustainability as well as of the economics of the process. The results of the study were presented to a validation workshop held in Kinshasa on July 16, 2008. The workshop was organized by the Government of the DRC, and it was attended by representatives of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the National Assembly, the Senate, the Ministries of Decentralization, finance, budgeting, and planning, representatives from the various provinces involved in the decoupage process, and development partners including the World Bank, UNDP, the Belgian Development Cooperation, and the European Union. At the end of the workshop, recommendations for rationalizing the decoupage process in the DRC were made with a view to maximizing efficiency. These recommendations are listed at the end of each chapter in this study.