The World Bank says surging oil revenues have created an economic boom for much of the Middle East. But in a new report the bank says states in the region are still trailing the rest of the world in the pace of economic reforms and are among the worst in terms of governance. Bank officials say in some cases, such as Iran, the revenue increases of the last few years appear to have caused states to postpone structural reforms they were undertaking.
WASHINGTON, 18 April 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The World Bank's report says states ranging from Morocco to Iran must diversify their economies and reduce the role of government in economic activity.
The report -- released Sunday during the World Bank/IMF spring meetings -- says that during the last two years economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa averaged more than 5.6 percent per year. That marks the strongest growth in a decade.
Some states have reduced trade barriers and unemployment during the oil boom. But the Bank says overall progress on improving the business climate has been the weakest in the world.
The Bank's chief economist for the region, Mustapha Nabli, told reporters that the oil-rich Mideast states continue to fall far behind the rest of the world in important governance issues like public accountability.
"There has not been much progress in terms of governance and this is extremely important because this is critical for the progress of reforms, in general, structural reforms. And when we look at this slow progress of structural reforms in general, this is not very good for the long term prospects," said Nabli.
Bank economists point to the region's high population growth and say an expansion of non-oil sectors is crucial to provide an estimated 100 million jobs needed in the region over the next 20 years.
The Bank says that international experience with structural reforms suggests that they have been successful in countries with "strong coalitions for change." But Nabli says these coalitions -- such as civil society -- have been weakened by the growth of state budget revenues from oil.
"We argue are that the oil revenue is what I call a soft-budget constraint which is not very helpful in terms of pushing for reform and letting constituencies for reform operate," said Nabli.
The World Bank report cites Iran as an example of this diminishing enthusiasm for reform. It said Iran had shown some initial progress with reforms in the trade and financial sectors. But during the last two years, the report said, progress has slowed significantly.
It said the economy has yet to address reforms needed to improve the business environment such as privatizing public enterprises. The report ranks Iran near the bottom in key governance areas.
One of the report's authors, Jennifer Keller, says the region's poor record in public accountability deprives countries of the internal debate needed to drive successful reforms.
"People do need certain rights, [a] certain ability to mobilize to process information, to be able to form coalitions for change and so this is why I think we would say that the governance agenda is critical to moving forward to second generation reforms," says Keller.
The Bank report includes a section on Iraq's challenges in the post-Saddam era. It says the country faces high unemployment, widespread poverty and weak social protection systems, further aggravated by the volatile security situation.
But World Bank officials told reporters that unexpectedly high oil revenues had allowed Iraq to fund some essential areas.
The Bank's Iraq country director, Joseph Saba, says that oil revenues have been used to maintain salaries for state employees and help restore the civil service. That has freed some donors to concentrate on capital investments on infrastructure and trade.
But Saba says the oil sector itself needs major investment. He says, "It's obviously clear that Iraq's oil sector needs a great deal of refurbishment, the fields need to be reworked, a great deal of investment has to be done for Iraq to meet its potential not only in oil but also in gas."
The World Bank report focused on economic developments, but it complements in some ways the series of UN-sponsored Arab Human Development reports of the last three years. Those reports criticized the prevalence of authoritarianism in the Middle East region.
The latest Arab Development report called for freely elected legislatures, an end to discrimination, and independent judiciaries. Otherwise, it said, Arab governments would face internal conflict or reforms imposed by outside powers.
(The World Bank's report on Middle East oil revenue management can be accessed at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMENA/Publications/20451730/MENA%20Economic%20Developments%20and%20Prospects%202005.pdf)
The report -- released Sunday during the World Bank/IMF spring meetings -- says that during the last two years economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa averaged more than 5.6 percent per year. That marks the strongest growth in a decade.
Some states have reduced trade barriers and unemployment during the oil boom. But the Bank says overall progress on improving the business climate has been the weakest in the world.
Bank economists point to the region's high population growth and say an expansion of non-oil sectors is crucial to provide an estimated 100 million jobs needed in the region over the next 20 years.
The Bank's chief economist for the region, Mustapha Nabli, told reporters that the oil-rich Mideast states continue to fall far behind the rest of the world in important governance issues like public accountability.
"There has not been much progress in terms of governance and this is extremely important because this is critical for the progress of reforms, in general, structural reforms. And when we look at this slow progress of structural reforms in general, this is not very good for the long term prospects," said Nabli.
Bank economists point to the region's high population growth and say an expansion of non-oil sectors is crucial to provide an estimated 100 million jobs needed in the region over the next 20 years.
The Bank says that international experience with structural reforms suggests that they have been successful in countries with "strong coalitions for change." But Nabli says these coalitions -- such as civil society -- have been weakened by the growth of state budget revenues from oil.
"We argue are that the oil revenue is what I call a soft-budget constraint which is not very helpful in terms of pushing for reform and letting constituencies for reform operate," said Nabli.
The World Bank report cites Iran as an example of this diminishing enthusiasm for reform. It said Iran had shown some initial progress with reforms in the trade and financial sectors. But during the last two years, the report said, progress has slowed significantly.
It said the economy has yet to address reforms needed to improve the business environment such as privatizing public enterprises. The report ranks Iran near the bottom in key governance areas.
One of the report's authors, Jennifer Keller, says the region's poor record in public accountability deprives countries of the internal debate needed to drive successful reforms.
"People do need certain rights, [a] certain ability to mobilize to process information, to be able to form coalitions for change and so this is why I think we would say that the governance agenda is critical to moving forward to second generation reforms," says Keller.
The Bank report includes a section on Iraq's challenges in the post-Saddam era. It says the country faces high unemployment, widespread poverty and weak social protection systems, further aggravated by the volatile security situation.
But World Bank officials told reporters that unexpectedly high oil revenues had allowed Iraq to fund some essential areas.
The Bank's Iraq country director, Joseph Saba, says that oil revenues have been used to maintain salaries for state employees and help restore the civil service. That has freed some donors to concentrate on capital investments on infrastructure and trade.
But Saba says the oil sector itself needs major investment. He says, "It's obviously clear that Iraq's oil sector needs a great deal of refurbishment, the fields need to be reworked, a great deal of investment has to be done for Iraq to meet its potential not only in oil but also in gas."
The World Bank report focused on economic developments, but it complements in some ways the series of UN-sponsored Arab Human Development reports of the last three years. Those reports criticized the prevalence of authoritarianism in the Middle East region.
The latest Arab Development report called for freely elected legislatures, an end to discrimination, and independent judiciaries. Otherwise, it said, Arab governments would face internal conflict or reforms imposed by outside powers.
(The World Bank's report on Middle East oil revenue management can be accessed at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMENA/Publications/20451730/MENA%20Economic%20Developments%20and%20Prospects%202005.pdf)