The World Bank Group And Public Procurement

The unanticipated spike in international food prices in 2007-08 hit many developing countries hard. International prices for food and other agricultural products increased by more than 100 percent between early 2007 and mid-2008. Prices for food cereals more than doubled; and those for rice doubled in the space of just a few months. The food price increases were particularly hard on the poor and near-poor in developing countries, many of whom spend a large share of their income on food and have limited means to cope with price shocks. An estimated 1.29 billion people in 2008 lived on less than $1.25 a day, equivalent to 22.4 percent of the developing world population. In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 923 million people were undernourished in 2007. Simulation models suggested that poverty rose by 100-200 million people and the undernourished increased by 63 million in 2008. The World Bank organized rapidly for short-term support in the crisis, launching a fast-track program of loans and grants, the Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP). The GFRP mainly targeted low-income countries, and provided detailed policy advice to governments and its own staff on how to respond to the crisis. The Bank also scaled up lending for agriculture and social protection to support the building of medium-term resilience to future food price shocks. The International Finance Corporation responded by sharply increasing access to liquidity for agribusinesses and agricultural traders in the short and medium term, as well as new programs to improve incentives for agricultural market participants. This evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the World Bank Group response in addressing the short-term impacts of the food price crisis and in enhancing the resilience of countries to future shocks.

Public procurement accounts for around one-fifth of global gross domestic product (GDP). Given its size the public procurement market can improve public sector performance, promote national competitiveness, drive domestic economic growth, and boost economic development. Launched at the request of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, Benchmarking Public Procurement presents actionable indicators to help countries identify and monitor policies and regulations that impact how private sector companies do business with the government in 77 economies. The Benchmarking Public Procurement 2016 report is organized under two parts: the public procurement life cycle and the complaint and reporting mechanisms indicators. Data was gathered using standardized questionnaires distributed to expert contributors in each economy. The project builds on the Doing Business methodology and aims to promote evidence-based decision making by governments and shed light over areas where few empirical data have been presented so far.

The current universal concerns about global energy security, competitiveness, and environmental protection make energy efficiency more important than ever. However, realizing large-scale savings has proven a significant challenge due to many barriers. 'Public Procurement of Energy Efficiency Services' looks at a largely untapped energy efficiency market the public sector. While the efficiency potential in this sector is substantial, the implementation of energy savings programs has been complicated by a number of factors, such as insufficient incentives to lower energy costs, rigid budgeting and procurement procedures, and limited access to financing. The book looks at energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) as a means of overcoming some of these barriers. Because public facilities can outsource the full project cycle to a commercial service provider, ESPCs can enable public agencies to solicit technical solutions, mobilize commercial financing, and assign performance risk to third parties, allowing the agency to pay from a project s actual energy savings. The recommendations in this book stem from case studies that identified approaches, models, and specific solutions to ESPC procurement, including budgeting, energy audits, and bid evaluation. Such an approach also offers enormous potential to bundle, finance, and implement energy efficiency projects on a larger scale in the public sector, which can yield further economies of scale. ESPCs can also serve as an attractive element for fiscal stimulus packages and efforts by governments to 'green' their infrastructure, which can create local jobs, reduce future operating costs, and mitigate their carbon footprint. Lower energy bills, in turn, help to create fiscal space in future years to meet other critical investment priorities. Bundled public sector energy efficiency projects can help stimulate local markets for energy efficiency goods and services and 'lead by example', demonstrating good practices and providing models to the private sector.

Good public procurement practices are a major determinant of the effectiveness of public expenditure. Effective policies enable better use of government budgets and are therefore an essential element of the poverty reduction focus of the World Bank. More effective public procurement in countries may also allow procurement practices in the World Bank lending to be unified and harmonized with other donors. Two overarching questions form the core of this evaluation: To what extent has the World Bank helped countries develop better procurement capacity and improve their public procurement systems? And to what extent does the application of World Bank procurement policies in its investment lending help support its own development objectives? World Bank contributions to the procurement process in countries have taken the form of both advisory services and support through lending. IEG reviews the nature and quality of diagnostic work as well as loans focused on procurement reform and the impact in terms of results. IEG's findings lead to a number of recommendations that focus on developing plans and projects in the context of country strategies and implementing changes along prevailing best practices. The recommendations are specific to World Bank systems, although the challenges and issues of effective and transparent procurement are not. Lessons from this evaluation can be applied to improve procurement practices in any system.--

This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.

Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as international flows of investment and labor and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade or deep integration. These agreements matter for economic development. Their rules influence how countries (and hence, the people and firms that live and operate within them) transact, invest, work, and ultimately, develop. Trade and investment regimes determine the extent of economic integration, competition rules affect economic efficiency, intellectual property rights matter for innovation, and environmental and labor rules contribute to environmental and social outcomes. This Handbook provides the tools and data needed to analyze these new dimensions of integration and to assess the content and consequences of DTAs. The Handbook and the accompanying database are the result of collaboration between experts in different policy areas from academia and other international organizations, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO).

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

The multilateral development banks cumulatively channel billions of dollars annually in development assistance to borrower countries. This finance is usually spent through processes that incorporate the public procurement regulations of the banks and it is often a condition of this finance that the funds must be spent using the procurement regulations of the lender institution. This book examines the issues and challenges raised by procurement regulation in the multilateral development banks. The book examines the history of procurement regulation in the banks; the tripartite relationship created between the banks, borrowers and contractors in funded procurements; the procurement documents and procurement cycle; as well as how the banks ensure competition and value for money in funded procurements. The book also examines the banks' approach to sustainability concerns in public procurement such as environmental, social or industrial concerns; as well as how the banks address the issue of corruption and fraud in funded contracts. Another issue that is addressed by this book is how the banks have implemented the aid effectiveness agenda. It will be seen that the development banks have undertaken steps to harmonise their policies and practices, increased borrower procurement capacity, taken steps to reduce the tying of aid, and play an important role in the reform of borrower procurement systems, all in an effort to improve the effectiveness of development finance. The book also considers the contractual and other remedies that are available to parties that may be aggrieved as a result of a funded procurement. The book analyses, compares and contrasts the legal, practical and institutional approaches to procurement regulation in the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.