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State-Owned Enterprises (SOES) in Oman: Review of SOE Governance Practices
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-08) World Bank
This report is part of a World Bank review of State-owned Enterprise (SOE) governance practices in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. The review is responding to the scarcity of data about such practices in the MENA region. It initially covers six countries, including: Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, and Tunisia. The objective of the reviews is to develop and disseminate knowledge about SOE governance in the interests of promoting continued SOE reforms in the region. This report provides an overview of the SOE landscape and history in Oman, followed by a review of key dimensions of SOE governance practices. This includes a review of the following dimensions: (i) The legal and regulatory frameworks for SOEs; (ii) State ownership arrangements; (iii) Performance management frameworks; (iv) SOE board structures and functioning; (v) Transparency and disclosure practices; (vi) Procurement policies and practices; and (vii) Climate reporting practices. The framework for the review is based on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for SOE Corporate Governance and the World Bank’s Integrated SOE Framework (iSOEF).
Tax Expenditure Manual
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-15) World Bank
This manual is a contribution to the rich body of literature on tax expenditures and aim to inform policymakers and policy debates on tax expenditures reform. In doing so, it builds on the existing knowledge and endeavors to provide a comprehensive guidance on key aspects of tax expenditure analysis. Considering that cross-country comparability of tax expenditure estimates is challenging due to differences in benchmarking, this manual specifically aims to provide guidance on how to benchmark some of the most common features of a tax system. This manual should be seen as a contribution to the vast ocean of knowledge on tax expenditures, rather than an exhaustive guide to all their complexities. This guidance endeavors to assist policy practitioners, especially in developing countries, in navigating and understandingtax expenditure issues.
Local Governments Climate Finance Instruments - Global Experiences and Prospects in Developing Countries
(World Bank and UNCDF, 2024-04-15) World Bank; United Nations Capital Development Fund
Local governments—especially cities and municipalities—in developing countries will be at the forefront of confronting and mitigating the impacts of climate change, and they need substantial financing to address this challenge. However, they often lack the fiscal resources for such investments. To address this financing gap, they will need to utilize a variety of financing sources and instruments. This joint publication of the World Bank and the UN Capital Development Fund aims to help cities and local governments better understand the various climate finance instruments and sources available to them, including intergovernmental fiscal transfers, own-source revenues, municipal borrowing (loans and bonds), public-private partnerships and credit-enhancement instruments such as guarantees. It provides information on each of these instruments - organized in a conceptual framework – and highlights international experience and 18 case studies on their use from around the world. The report also recommends various actions that cities, local and national governments and development partners can take to increase access to these instruments to help meet climate investment needs in cities.
Municipal Mergers and Associations: International Experience and Reform Options for Croatia
(Washington, DC, 2022-05) World Bank
Croatia’s high degree of municipal fragmentation has been consistently recognized as a weakness and one of the main problems of its intergovernmental fiscal system. The report argues that the problem of fragmentation is in essence a problem of capacity. The objective of this report is to review international experiences and lessons in the promotion of local government mergers and municipal associations to inform efforts to advance institutional reform in Croatia and address the problem of low local government capacity. The report is organized into six sections. The first section is introduction, the second section reviews the fragmented territorial administrative structure in Croatia, and the third is devoted to unpacking the concept of local government units (LGU) capacity. The fourth section focuses on relevant international experience related to municipal fragmentation and capacity deficiencies, and the fifth examines incentive measures for Intermunicipal Cooperation (IMC) and the creation of associations or commonwealths. The sixth section lays out policy options and recommendations for Croatia, prioritized along a sequence for implementation.