The setting of public utility prices involves balancing various competing government policy objectives, from equity concerns to ensuring the financial sustainability of providers and balancing public finances. In practice, public utility pricing often departs significantly from government objectives and tends to be characterized by unnecessarily complex price schedules, below cost-recovery tariff rates, and sectoral inefficiencies that contribute to large fiscal costs. Countries commonly embark on utility pricing reform in response to these heavy fiscal pressures. The paper discusses various reform options available to governments, with a focus on residential pricing schedules, highlighting their fiscal, financial, redistributive, and efficiency implications.

This technical assistance conducts a climate policy diagnostic for Jordan, covering climate adaptation and mitigation policy, as well as enabling institutions. Jordan faces acute challenges of climate-food-water nexus—innovative climate policy approaches are key, given limited fiscal space. While Jordan needs to strengthen the investment climate for climate investment through streamlining existing policies and alleviating critical barriers, making social policy more shock-responsive and strengthening risk management can go a long way in building resilience. As climate-related risks globally intensify, the government is encouraged to move toward a risk-informed policy and financing strategy.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has exacerbated food insecurity that had already been on the rise for half a decade. Low-income countries are affected the most. This note suggests that the food and fertilizer price shock would add $9 billion in 2022 and 2023 to the import bills of the 48 most affected countries. The budgetary cost of protecting vulnerable households in these countries amounts to $5–7 billion. Strong and timely action on a global scale is needed to support vulnerable households through international humanitarian assistance and domestic fiscal measures; to maintain open trade; to enhance food production and distribution; and to invest in climate-resilient agriculture. The IMF has been stepping up its engagement to help tackle the global food crisis, working closely with partners, by providing policy advice, capacity building and financing. IMF financing is a third line of defense in meeting external financing needs associated with the global food shock, which should ideally be covered by donor grants and concessional borrowing from MDBs. A new food shock window under the emergency financing instruments is expected to be approved soon to further strengthen its lending response to the food crisis.

This survey conducted January 3-27, 2001, is part of a series of studies designed to assess attitudes about democracy, markets, and civil society in African nations and to track the evolution of such attitudes over time. This particular survey was concerned with the attitudes and opinions of the residents of Mali. Respondents were asked to compare the effectiveness of the democratic government to the previous military government. Those queried were asked about their understanding of and associations with democracy, their overall interest and involvement in the government and its affairs, whether Mali was a good democracy, to what extent Mali was a democracy, and whether a democratic government was preferable to other systems of government. Opinions were gathered on the role of the government in improving the economy, how well the current government had fulfilled its promises, the government's handling of crime, health care, education, poverty, and housing, whether corruption existed in the current government, whether government officials were responsive to the needs and concerns of the general population, whether the current government was too complicated to be understood by the general population, and whether the government, political parties, the police, the military, and other social institutions could be trusted. Societal questions addressed how much trust could be placed in other people, whether it was wise to plan ahead, whether everyone should be responsible for themselves and their own success or failure, whether members of a family should share the same political beliefs, whether it is dangerous to allow too many differing views and opinions, whether people should be allowed to vote if they are not informed about the issues, and whether it was easy to obtain assistance in securing food, water, schooling, and medical services. Economic questions sought respond ... Cf. : http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR-STUDY/03935.xml.

This paper argues that where institutions are strong, actors are more likely to participate in the political process through institutionalized arenas, while where they are weak, protests and other unconventional means of participation become more appealing. This relationship is explored empirically by combining country level measures of institutional strength with individual-level information on protest participation in 17 Latin American countries. Evidence is found that weaker political institutions are associated with a higher propensity to use alternative means for expressing preferences, that is, to protest. Also found are interesting interactions between country-level institutional strength and some individual-level determinants of participation in protests.