2011年-世界发展银行全球_Financial_Access_and_Stability___A_Road_Map_for_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa_4页_814kb

MENA Knowledge and Learning: Financial Access and Stability - A Road Map for the Middle East and North Africa

Core Content

This document outlines the challenges and opportunities for financial sector development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly in the context of the political upheavals of 2011. It highlights the need for comprehensive financial reforms to address the region's economic and social issues, especially concerning youth unemployment and lack of access to financial services.

Main Points

• Political and Economic Context: The Arab Spring in 2011 exposed deep-seated economic and social grievances in the MENA region, particularly among the youth. The financial sector's inability to provide inclusive access to finance has been a significant contributor to these challenges.

• Financial Sector Overview:

  • The banking systems in the region are generally well-capitalized and have weathered the global financial crisis.
  • However, they remain undiversified, uncompetitive, and exclusive, focusing mainly on large and well-connected enterprises.
  • Financial systems in MENA have high loan concentration ratios, indicating a lack of inclusivity.

• Access to Finance Challenges:

  • Poor financial infrastructure: Limited credit information and deficient collateral and insolvency regimes.
  • Weak bank competition: Dominance of state banks, restrictive licensing procedures, and lack of alternatives to bank finance.
  • Underdeveloped nonbank financial institutions: Limited presence of corporate bonds, leasing, factoring, and microfinance.

• Impact on Growth and Employment:

  • Poor access to finance has constrained the growth of the private sector and limited employment and housing opportunities for the young population.
  • The microfinance sector is particularly underdeveloped, with microcredit accounting for only 0.2% of GDP.

Key Recommendations

• Financial Development Agenda:

  • Strengthen financial infrastructure: Improve credit information systems and develop more robust collateral regimes.
  • Enhance bank competition: Reduce the role of state banks, review licensing procedures, improve credit information for small banks, and introduce competition agencies.
  • Develop nonbank financial institutions: Encourage the growth of corporate bonds, leasing, factoring, and microfinance through supportive legislation and institutional development.
  • Promote foreign investment: Allow foreign investors to play a more active role in developing financial markets, especially during the growth of private domestic institutions.

• Financial Stability Agenda:

  • Microprudential supervision: Improve Basel II implementation, strengthen capital buffers, and better manage concentration and mismatch risks.
  • Bank governance: Enhance the professionalism and independence of boards and risk management functions.
  • Macroprudential supervision: Develop institutional arrangements to address systemic risks and introduce countercyclical tools to manage financial cycles.

Conclusion

The document emphasizes that financial sector reforms are essential for fostering inclusive growth and improving the well-being of the MENA population. A combined agenda of financial development and stability is proposed to ensure that the region can benefit from expanded financial access without compromising financial resilience.

Key Figures and Data

• Figure 1: Youth unemployment rates in 2008 by world region, showing high rates in MENA.
• Figure 2: MENA banks' assets as a percentage of GDP, indicating their dominance in the region.
• Figure 3: Loan concentration ratios in MENA, highlighting the concentration on large enterprises.
• Figure 4: Share of enterprises with loans or lines of credit by firm size and region, showing limited access for SMEs.
• Figure 5: Small and medium enterprise loans as a percentage of total loans in MENA, indicating their underdevelopment.

Contact Information

• Laura Tuck, Director, Strategy and Operations, MENA Region, The World Bank
• Regional Quick Notes Team: Omer Karasapan, Roby Fields, and Hafed Al-Ghwell
• Tel: (202) 473 8177

The MNA Quick Notes are summaries of lessons learned from World Bank activities and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, its Board, or its member countries.