Improving the Quality of Financial Intermediation in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
This engagement note provides a snapshot of financial development in the countries of the GulfCooperation Council (GCC), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and identifies key areas of the financial sector...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2015
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/06/24615152/improving-quality-financial-intermediation-gulf-cooperation-council-gcc-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22049 |
| Summary: | This engagement note provides a snapshot
of financial development in the countries of the
GulfCooperation Council (GCC), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and
identifies key areas of the financial sector reform agenda
where the World Bank Group (WBG) through the Finance
Markets Global Practice (FMGP) can provide its support, in
particular through the provision of analytical services and
advisory (ASA). A key challenge for GCC countries is to
diversify their economic structures, increase the role of
the private sector, improve the efficiency of the government
and reform the educational system and the labor market. This
is essential to create employment opportunities for a young
and growing domestic population. In this context, the
development of an efficient, stable and inclusive financial
sector is a policy objective in itself and a necessary
conduit to a more diversified and productive economic
system. Against this backdrop, this engagement note suggests
that improving the quality of financial intermediation in
GCC economies is a balancing act between enhancing access
and preserving stability. Accordingly, it detects and
discusses several areas of engagement for WBG which are
consistent with the financial sector reform agenda of the
region. In particular, based on the expertise and delivery
capacity of WBG, particularly of FMGP, this engagement note
suggests that WBG target ASA in the following areas: (i)
financial infrastructure, particularly insolvency regimes,
creditor rights and payment and settlement systems; (ii)
banking competition; (iii) government debt capital market
development, including sukuk; (iv) credit guarantee schemes
for SMEs; and (v) macro prudential supervision. |
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