2012年-世界发展银行全球_Doing_Business_Economy_Profile_2013___Liberia_114页_1mb

Liberia Economy Profile: Doing Business 2013 Summary

Core Content Overview

The Doing Business 2013 report provides an analysis of the regulatory environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Liberia, comparing it with other economies and highlighting key areas for improvement. It assesses 11 aspects of the business environment, including starting a business, construction permits, electricity access, property registration, credit access, investor protection, tax payment, trade across borders, contract enforcement, insolvency resolution, and employment regulations.

The report uses a standardized methodology to measure the ease of doing business, based on procedures, time, and cost. It ranks economies from 1 to 185, with 1 being the easiest. Liberia's ranking in 2013 was 149, showing a 5-point improvement from its 2012 rank of 154. The report also introduces the distance to frontier measure, which tracks how far an economy is from the best practices globally.

Main Indicators and Performance

Key Findings

Ease of Starting a Business

• Procedures: 4
• Time: 6 days
• Cost: 52.7% of income per capita
• Paid-in Minimum Capital: 0.0% of income per capita
• Rank: 38 (out of 185)

Liberia has improved in this area, but it still lags behind many comparator economies. The cost of starting a business has decreased significantly from 68.4% in 2012 to 52.7% in 2013. The introduction of a one-stop shop in 2012 helped reduce the number of procedures and time required.

Dealing with Construction Permits

• Procedures: 23
• Time: 75 days
• Cost: 559.7% of income per capita
• Rank: 126

Liberia has one of the worst rankings in this area. The number of procedures and the cost remain high compared to other economies, especially in the region. The time required to obtain construction permits has not improved significantly, and the cost is still much higher than in countries like Qatar and Singapore.

Getting Electricity

• Procedures: 4
• Time: 465 days
• Cost: 3,528.6% of income per capita
• Rank: 145

Accessing electricity in Liberia is extremely difficult and costly. The time and cost are among the highest globally, and the procedures required are still more than in many comparator economies. This is a major barrier for SMEs.

Registering Property

• Procedures: 10
• Time: 50 days
• Cost: 13.1% of property value
• Rank: 178

Liberia performs poorly in property registration. The number of procedures and the time required are higher than in comparator economies, and the cost is also relatively high. However, it is slightly better than some neighboring countries like Sierra Leone.

Getting Credit

• Rank: 104
• Legal Rights Index (0–10): 7
• Credit Information Index (0–6): 1
• Public Registry Coverage (% of Adults): 1.1
• Private Bureau Coverage (% of Adults): 0.0

Liberia's credit environment is weak. The legal rights index is low, and the depth of credit information is also poor. Public and private registry coverage is very limited, which affects the ability of businesses to access credit.

Protecting Investors

• Rank: 150
• Disclosure Index (0–10): 4
• Investor Protection Index (0–10): 3.7

Investor protection in Liberia is among the worst globally. The disclosure index is low, and the investor protection index is significantly below the global best performers like New Zealand.

Paying Taxes

• Rank: 45
• Number of Payments: 33
• Time (hours per year): 158
• Cost (% of income per capita): 52.7%

Liberia has a high number of tax payments and a long time required to comply with tax obligations. The cost of paying taxes is 52.7% of income per capita, which is relatively high compared to other economies.

Trading Across Borders

• Rank: 137
• Documents to Export: 10
• Time to Export (days): 15
• Cost to Export (US$ per container): 1,220
• Documents to Import: 11
• Time to Import (days): 28
• Cost to Import (US$ per container): 1,320

Liberia has a moderate ranking in trade across borders. It requires a significant number of documents to export and import, and the cost is relatively high. The time to export is similar to some comparator economies, but the cost remains a challenge.

Enforcing Contracts

• Rank: 163
• Time (days): 1,280
• Cost (% of claim): 35.0%

Liberia performs poorly in contract enforcement. The time required to enforce contracts is extremely long, and the cost is also high. This is a major deterrent for business growth and investment.

Resolving Insolvency

• Rank: 159
• Time (years): 3.0
• Cost (% of estate): 43
• Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar): 8.5

Liberia's insolvency resolution process is slow and costly. The recovery rate is low, indicating that businesses may not recover much of their assets in case of insolvency.

Summary of Business Regulation Reforms in Liberia

Liberia has made some progress in business registration, particularly with the introduction of a one-stop shop in 2012. However, the overall regulatory environment remains challenging, especially in areas such as construction permits, electricity access, and contract enforcement.

Conclusion

Liberia's business environment is among the most difficult in the world, particularly for SMEs. While some reforms have been implemented, such as the one-stop shop, the country still has significant challenges in reducing the number of procedures, time, and cost required to start and operate a business. The distance to frontier measure highlights that Liberia is far from best practices in many areas. Continued regulatory reform is essential to improve the business environment and attract more investment.