Publication: City Finances of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Loading...
Published
2013
ISSN
Date
2014-02-03
Editor(s)
Abstract
Ulaanbaatar's (UB) population has swollen from half a million in 2001 to approximately 1.2 million in 2011, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's population. This trend is likely to continue as economic growth is increasingly concentrated in UB. With its growing population and concerns in rising inequality, the city is facing increasing pressure to maintain and expand service provision (especially infrastructure). The local tax on wages is expected to continue to provide substantial revenues to the UB government, which will assist the growing demand for services. Additionally, a new 'capital city tax' is expected to come into effect in 2013. The decision of the central government (CG) to pursue further decentralization gives greater leadership to the UB government and its districts. It also provides local broader decision-making authority as well as opportunity for citizen's participation and for the improvement of governance and transparency. Therefore, a key challenge for UB and its districts is ensuring that the local fiscal system is sound and ready to handle a greater volume of revenues to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. The city also needs to develop a robust and transparent fiscal management system if it is to make an effective use of new revenue sources. The main objective of this study is to understand the inner workings of the municipal finance system in Ulaanbaatar and its districts.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Brhane, Meskerem; Garzón, Hernando; Lkhagvadorj, Ariunaa. 2013. City Finances of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16795 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication City Finances of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia(Washington, DC, 2013)Ulaanbaatar's (UB) population has swollen from half a million in 2001 to approximately 1.2 million in 2011, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's population. This trend is likely to continue as economic growth is increasingly concentrated in UB. With its growing population and concerns in rising inequality, the city is facing increasing pressure to maintain and expand service provision (especially infrastructure). The local tax on wages is expected to continue to provide substantial revenues to the UB government, which will assist the growing demand for services. Additionally, a new 'capital city tax' is expected to come into effect in 2013. The decision of the central government (CG) to pursue further decentralization gives greater leadership to the UB government and its districts. It also provides local broader decision-making authority as well as opportunity for citizen's participation and for the improvement of governance and transparency. Therefore, a key challenge for UB and its districts is ensuring that the local fiscal system is sound and ready to handle a greater volume of revenues to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. The city also needs to develop a robust and transparent fiscal management system if it is to make an effective use of new revenue sources. The main objective of this study is to understand the inner workings of the municipal finance system in Ulaanbaatar and its districts.Publication Service Delivery and Decentralization in Sri Lanka : Assessment and Options(Washington, DC, 2006-05-15)This report assesses Sri Lanka's experience with decentralization to date and discusses options for decentralization and implications for service delivery in three sectors: roads, solid waste and health. The selected sectors illustrate the considerations relevant to the decentralization decision and its future direction. The services selected cover a range of central, provincial and local responsibilities in delivery and illustrate how the cause of success or failure of service delivery is rooted in the institutional framework, division of responsibility, funding mechanisms i.e. incentives and accountability. The effective provision of these services requires a clear understanding of the service delivery goals, technical capacity, adequate assets and recurrent inputs to deliver services. Each sector has its particular needs and to some extent can be considered independently, but the political realities effectively require that any constitutionally mandated and elected level of government have some corresponding responsibilities.Publication Avoiding the Fiscal Pitfalls of Subnational Regulation(Washington, DC, 2011-12)Since investment climate reforms in developing countries started gaining traction in the 1990s, most efforts have focused on issues at the national level, achieving varying degrees of success for reasons that are relatively well understood. This handbook provides an overview of efforts and achievements in subnational investment climate reforms. It is organized as follows. Chapter 2 reviews a number of countries experiences with subnational reforms, noting both success stories and disappointments and pointing toward lessons learned. Chapter 3 sets out the basic principles of subnational revenue, including business taxation. Chapter 4 describes sound licensing practices for subnational governments, including establishing licensing fees. Chapter 5 provides recommendations for subnational reform projects where both the regulatory authority and taxation require attention, which is the most common situation. Finally, the Appendix offers nine case studies covering subnational reform efforts in the following countries: Canada (British Columbia), The Russian Federation, China, Kenya, Tanzania, Peru (Lima), The Balkans (Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Tajikistan, and Zambia.Publication Decentralization and Subnational Service Delivery in Iraq(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03)Since the Constitution (2005) provided for decentralizing powers and functions for the Governorates, the government of Iraq has enacted several legal, policy, and institutional reform initiatives, the intent of which is to shift political and administrative powers and responsibilities from the Central Government to the Governorates. The legal and policy framework for decentralization is yet to be followed through with efficient implementation. The Government of Iraq and the World Bank will like to assess the current status of decentralization and its implications for improving service delivery at the Governorate level. The objective of the assessment is to take stock of the current state of decentralization in Iraq with a view to identifying factors that contribute to weak service delivery performance at the governorate level. The assessment will also make recommendations for policy and process reforms that are deemed necessary to moving forward the decentralization process, thereby helping to improve service delivery performance by the Governorates. The assessment was carried out through a combination of desk reviews and field level consultations. This assessment provides a snapshot of the current status of the decentralization process. It identifies policy and process reform measures that are necessary to strengthen service delivery by the 15 Governorates of Iraq. Strengthening local accountability should be the key to strengthening the service delivery performance of the Governorates.Publication Sana'a : A City Development Strategy(Washington, DC, 2009-10-05)Sana'a is located in an upland basin at an altitude of 2300 meters within a mountainous and semi-arid region of Yemen. Because of its high altitude, the city enjoys a moderate climate year around. The main rainy season is in summer. The nearest port is Hodeidah, roughly 250 kilometers away. Bound by mountains and steep slopes to the east and west, the city has few options but to expand primarily along its north and south axes within its basin. In September 2005 the Sana'a Local Council convened a workshop to initiate the city development strategy (CDS) process, in coordination with The World Bank and the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI). Funding and organizational aspects of the CDS were approved in October 2006 by the Cities Alliance, and the CDS process was launched under the leadership of H.E. the Minister of State and Mayor of Sana'a. This publication seeks to summarize the main outcomes of the studies, discussions, and strategic planning accomplished during Sana'a CDS process. Moreover, it aims to serve as a guide for the city's local economic development that is presented in a manner that is accessible to a broad audience.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Does State Ownership Have Limits in Romania?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-12-21)This paper assesses the performance of Romanian state-owned enterprises with various degrees of ownership (minority owned with 10 to 24.9 percent stakes, minority owned with 25 to 49.9 percent stakes, and majority owned with at least 50 percent ownership stakes) and control levels (central versus local state-owned enterprises and directly versus indirectly owned state-owned enterprises) relative to privately owned enterprises. The paper uses the Romanian firm-level data from the Ministry of Finance covering enterprises of all sizes from 2011 to 2020, combined with the new World Bank Businesses of the State dataset, which tracks ownership of state business entities with at least 10 percent stake in Romania. The paper analyzes whether various degrees of state ownership and levels of control matter for state-owned enterprises’ performance. The paper also assesses whether Romanian state-owned enterprises were able to act as stabilizers during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the presence of state-owned enterprises in markets correlates with market outcomes. The findings show that relative to private firms, Romanian state-owned enterprises, particularly those that are majority owned, directly owned, and local ones, employ more people, pay higher wages, but are less productive. In addition, Romanian state-owned enterprises cushioned the job and wage losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic better than private firms, especially in competitive sectors. Finally, there is evidence that the presence of state-owned enterprises may limit private firm entry and allocative efficiency.Publication Debt Management Performance Assessment Methodology(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11-25)The Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) is the World Bank’s diagnostic tool for assessing performance using a comprehensive set of indicators that span the full range of government debt management (DM) functions. Launched in 2007, revised in 2015, the indicators have become an internationally recognized standard in the government DM field and can be applied in all developing countries. The DeMPA offers a sound diagnostic framework that allows a country’s DM processes and institutions to be evaluated against sound international practice, identifying core strengths and weaknesses, and thereby helping strengthen capacity and institutions so that countries can manage their government debt effectively and sustainably. It will assist countries that want to undertake debt management reforms, helping to monitor progress with achieving government DM objectives consistent with international sound practice. The DeMPA is modeled on the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) indicators, however, it uses a more comprehensive set of indicators, spanning the full range of government debt management (DM) functions, to provide a detailed assessment of government DM. The DeMPA methodology consists of two parts: i) a description of the methodology and ii) an evaluation tool that summarizes key questions that should be assessed in the context of a DeMPA evaluation.Publication Romania - Country Partnership Framework for the Period FY25 - FY29(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-20)As the World Bank Group (WBG) is evolving, it remains a strategic partner for Romania in helping accelerate the pace and impact of the country’s national development efforts while pursuing opportunities to contribute to the global development agenda. The Romania Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for FY25-29 aims to maximize these opportunities. The CPF (i) supports Romania in closing selected development gaps and disparities and strengthening institutions; (ii) enables the WBG to innovate and co-create solutions that employ instruments of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) for a sophisticated high-income country (HIC) client that will generate globally replicable knowledge to help tackle national, regional, and worldwide global challenges; and (iii) leverages partnerships and operationalizes the One WBG Approach to amplify results. The CPF’s overarching goal is to promote prosperity and address inequalities in a livable Romania. The program prioritizes three high-level outcomes (HLOs): (i) improved human capital outcomes; (ii) better jobs in a more competitive economy through unlocking private investment; and (iii) increased resilience and an accelerated green transition. The CPF maintains a transversal focus on enhancing institutions to serve all people and businesses.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.