Narrow Your Choices

Refine By Topic

Refine By Series

Refine By Language

Refine By Date

—

Refine By IMF Taxonomy

Refine By JEL Taxonomy

Refine by LOC Taxonomy

Refine By THEMA Taxonomy

  • Print
  • Save

Middle East and Central Asia > Oman

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 13 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
Clear All Modify Search
Cover Policy Papers
Gulf Cooperation Council: Pursuing Visions Amid Geopolitical Turbulence: Economic Prospects and Policy Challenges for the GCC Countries
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries have successfully weathered recent turbulence in the Middle East, and their economic prospects remain favorable. Nonhydrocarbon activity has been strong amid reform implementation, although overall growth has decelerated due to cuts in oil production. The growth outlook is positive, as the envisaged easing of oil production cuts and natural gas expansion spur the recovery in the hydrocarbon sector, while the nonhydrocarbon economy continues to expand. External buffers remain comfortable despite current account balances having narrowed. Risks around the outlook are broadly balanced in the near term. More challenging medium-term risks, especially in the context of geoeconomic fragmentation and climate change, call for action on policy priorities to continue to strengthen the private sector and to diversify the economy.
Keywords:
economic diversification; financial stability; fiscal sustainability; GCC; productivity improvements; regional integration; GCC country; policy priority; B. GCC; GCC well; GCC public sector balance sheet; Labor markets; Fiscal rules; Total factor productivity; Global; Middle East; Middle East and Central Asia
Cover Selected Issues Papers
Lifting productivity in Oman: The Role of Structural Reforms
Muayad Ismail
and
Haytem Troug
Oman’s potential nonhydrocarbon real GDP growth has trended downward since the global financial crisis, with a negative contribution from total factor productivity. This paper estimates productivity gains associated with structural reforms and identifies key binding constraints and reform priorities to boost productivity in Oman. Our results show that reforms to reduce the state’s footprint and strengthen institutions, as well as product market reforms, should be prioritized and packaged together to magnify productivity gains from labor market and financial sector reforms. These findings could inform the planning and implementation of the ongoing structural reform agenda envisaged under Oman Vision 2040.
Keywords:
Economic diversification; productivity; Oman; structural reforms; productivity gain; Lifting productivity; hydrocarbon real GDP growth; reform priority; product market reform; Commodity markets; Labor markets; Total factor productivity; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Comparing the Employment-Output Elasticities of Expatriates and Nationals in the Gulf Cooperation Council
Mr. Alberto Behar
We estimate the elasticity of private-sector employment to non-oil GDP in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for GCC nationals and expatriates using a Seemingly Unrelated Error Correction (SUREC) model. Our results indicate that the employment response is lower for nationals, who have an estimated short-run elasticity of only 0.15 and a long-run response of 0.7 or less. The elasticity is almost unity for expatriates in the long run and 0.35 in the short run. We interpret low elasticities as indirect evidence of labor market adjustment costs, which could include hiring and firing rigidities, skills mismatches, and reluctance to accept private sector jobs. Forecasts suggest that, absent measures to reduce adjustment costs, the private sector will only be able to absorb a small portion of nationals entering the labor force.
Keywords:
WP; labor market; Employment Elasticities; Labor Market Adjustment Costs; GCC; Gulf Cooperation Council; Inclusive Growth; GCC country; employment growth; GCC employment; GCC labor market structure; employment response; growth forecast; employment elasticity; GCC elasticity; employment projection; employment-growth relationship; employment rigidity; GCC aggregate; Employment; Labor markets; Public employment; Labor force; Public sector; Middle East; Middle East and Central Asia; North Africa; East Africa; Global
Cover IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics
IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics
Annual Report 2013
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.

Abstract

The 2013 Annual Report of the IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics (Committee) provides an overview of recent trends and discrepancies in global balance of payments statistics, and summarizes the Committee’s work program during 2013 andthe issues the Committee plans to address in the coming year.

Keywords:
BY; BOP; CPIS data enhancement; reliability of balance of payments; IIP data
Cover Policy Papers
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Labor Market Reforms to Boost Employment and Productivity in the GCC
International Monetary Fund
The GCC growth model has delivered substantial improvements in living standards over several decades. Access to foreign labor has supported rapid growth in the non-oil sector and price stability in the region. It has also resulted in positive spillovers to the migrant-sending countries through large remittance flows. At the same time, governments have increased public-sector employment and have helped raise standards of living. However, the growth model has involved costs: the public-sector wage bill is relatively high, there is limited employment of nationals in the private sector, labor productivity has declined or stagnated, and there is limited progress on economic diversification
Keywords:
PP; GCC country; wage subsidy; public-sector wage bill; labor force; foreign worker; wage restriction; employment quota; crowding out; output gap; subsidies temporary; GCC growth model; Employment; Labor markets; Wages; Foreign labor; Employment subsidies; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Private-Sector Employment?
Mr. Alberto Behar
and
Mr. Junghwan Mok
We quantify the extent to which public-sector employment crowds out private-sector employment using specially assembled datasets for a large cross-section of developing and advanced countries, and discuss the implications for countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus and Central Asia. These countries simultaneously display high unemployment rates, low private-sector employment rates and high proportions of government-sector employment. Regressions of either private-sector employment rates or unemployment rates on two measures of public-sector employment point to full crowding out. This means that high rates of public employment, which incur substantial fiscal costs, have a large negative impact on private employment rates and do not reduce overall unemployment rates.
Keywords:
WP; private sector; private-sector employment; Employment; Crowding out; Middle East and Central Asia; employment rate; crowding-out effect; C. private-sector employment; employment dataset; MENAP country; outcomes in the MCD; MCD country; employment equation; MCD countries' employment data; CCA country; labor force; Public employment; Employment rate; Government debt management; Unemployment; Middle East
Cover Departmental Papers
Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC): Enhancing Economic Outcomes in an Uncertain Global Economy
Samya Beidas-Strom
,
Mr. Tobias N. Rasmussen
, and
Mr. David Robinson
Departmental papers are usually focused on a specific economic topic, country, or region. They are prepared in a timely way to support the outreach needs of the IMF’s area and functional departments.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; GCC country; real GDP; financial crisis; monetary policy; fiscal policy; Consumption; Oil prices; Credit default swap; Employment; Global; Asia and Pacific; Middle East
Cover IMF Working Papers
Emerging Strains in GCC Labor Markets
Mr. Ugo Fasano-Filho
and
Rishi Goyal
Unemployment pressures among nationals are emerging in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). 2 At a time when a rapidly growing number of young nationals are entering the labor force and governments are no longer able to act as employers of first and last resort, the non-oil sector continues to rely on expatriate labor to meet its labor requirements in most GCC countries. In this environment, policymakers face the related challenges of addressing unemployment pressures while striking a balance between maintaining a liberal foreign labor policy and a reasonable level of competitiveness of the non-oil sector. Using a matching function framework, this paper examines labor market policies that are likely to expand the ability to hire nationals in the non-oil sector. It finds that an effective labor strategy should focus on strengthening investment in human capital, adopting institutional reforms, and promoting a vibrant non-oil economy.
Keywords:
WP; wage; private sector; GCC country; GCC countries; labor market policies; matching function framework; unemployment rate; reservation wage; wage bill; wage expectation; Labor markets; Wages; Employment; Labor force; Unemployment; Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover GCC Countries
GCC Countries
From Oil Dependence to Diversification
Mr. Zubair Iqbal
and
Mr. Ugo Fasano-Filho

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the unprecedented economic and social transformation witnessed by the member countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)-Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates-over the last three decades.

Keywords:
MISC PUBS; Misc.; GCC country; GCC; country; state enterprise; government; GCC economy; GCC population; GCC countries' effort; GCC area; state enterprise reform; GCC member states; GCC workforce; Labor force; Employment; Privatization; Labor markets; Stock markets; Global
Cover Yemen in the 1990s
Yemen in the 1990s
From Unification to Economic Reform
Ms. Nada Choueiri
,
Mr. Klaus-Stefan Enders
,
Mr. Yuri V Sobolev
,
Mr. Jan Walliser
, and
Mr. Sherwyn Williams

Abstract

The 1990s saw the unification of the two Yemens into one nation and a burgeoning of the country's oil sector. This paper examines the structural changes in the Yemeni economy brought about by these and other developments and identifies the reforms needed to move the country toward rapid and sustainable growth, effectively manage its oil wealth, and reduce the widespread poverty. The paper addresses the issue of poverty reduction by providing background and drawing lessons from Yemen's adjustment experience to date.

Keywords:
OP; government; Yemen; policy; pins government policy; economic reform program; adjustment experience; oil sector development; employee pension plan; benefit rule; Oil; Oil prices; Commercial banks; Middle East; East Africa; North Africa; Europe; Asia and Pacific