2007年-世界发展银行全球_How_Efficiently_is_Capital_Created__Evidence_from_Property_Registration_Reform_in_Egypt_4页_309kb

Summary: How Efficiently Is Capital Created? Evidence from Property Registration Reform in Egypt

Core Content

The document discusses the impact of property registration reform in Egypt on capital creation and economic growth. It highlights the importance of simplifying and reducing the cost of property registration as a tool to improve access to finance and encourage property owners to formalize their assets. The reform aimed to make property registration more affordable, transparent, and efficient, with the ultimate goal of integrating more properties into the formal economy and promoting entrepreneurship.

Main Goals of the Reform

• Reduce property registration fees: The reform cut the total registration fees from 5.9% to 1% of property value.
• Improve access to finance: By making property registration more affordable, the reform enabled property owners, especially the poor, to use their property as collateral for business ventures.
• Combat illegal property registration: The reform introduced measures to prevent fraudulent ownership documents and ensure legal property records.

Key Reforms and Outcomes

• Fee Structure Change: The main registration fee was restructured from a percentage-based fee to a fixed fee, capped at 2,000 Egyptian pounds (EGP), based on property area.
• Cost Reduction and Revenue Increase: The total property registration fees dropped significantly, and revenues from title registrations increased by 39% within six months of the reform.
• Registration Increase: The number of property deeds registered per month rose from 4,899.2 in 2006 to 5,443.4 in 2007.
• Legislative Process: The reform required approval from the People's Assembly and Shura Assembly, with the final law issued in June 2006 and implemented in August 2006.

Lessons Learned

• Narrow the scope, widen the target: The reform focused on reducing fees in a way that was more appealing to a broad range of property holders, including the poor.
• Learn from others' experiences: The reform drew on international examples, such as Germany and Argentina, but also emphasized the importance of learning from domestic reforms.
• Use the Doing Business report: The report provided a benchmark for measuring the impact of the reform and helped the government understand the bottlenecks in the property registration process.
• Ensure broad communication: Despite the success of the reform, there was a lack of public awareness and outreach, which limited its full potential. The government is now planning to work with banks to promote mortgage offerings and improve communication.

Challenges and Future Steps

• Time to register property: The process still takes more than six months in Cairo, which is too long for efficient capital creation.
• Next Steps: Computerizing the registry, training staff, updating records, and combining procedures are suggested as ways to reduce registration time and improve efficiency.

Figures and Data

• Figure 1: Shows the increase in revenue after the fee reduction.
• Figure 2: Compares the number of personal deeds registered in urban areas before and after the reform.
• Figure 3: Compares the number of title deeds registered in rural areas before and after the reform.
• Figure 4: Highlights the time taken to register property in Cairo, indicating the need for further improvements.

Conclusion

The property registration reform in Egypt successfully reduced registration fees and increased the number of registered properties, contributing to better access to finance and economic growth. However, the reform's impact could be further enhanced by improving the speed of the registration process and increasing public awareness through targeted communication strategies. The lessons from this reform emphasize the importance of stakeholder engagement, learning from international and domestic experiences, and leveraging tools like the Doing Business report for effective policy implementation.