CONSIDERATIONS ON THE ISSUANCE OF MUNICIPAL BONDS IN ROMANIA
The global financial crisis raised the price of the access to bank loans, a viable solution for financing is represented by issuing municipal bonds. This paper presents the current situation of municipal bons issues in Romania focusing on destination, on costs, on loans’ guarantees and their impact on indebtedness of local government. Local municipal bond market in Romania has a relatively short history, tailored after 2001, knowing that a considerable advance in recent years. The most common reasons for which public authorities are calling for loans are: either in need of cash or in need to balance the budget.
Issues in Development of Government Bond Markets
Developing a government securities market is a complex undertaking that depends on the financial and market system development of each country. For many governments, this involves immense challenges as the problems that inhibit securities market development run deep in the economy. For example, some governments rely on a few domestic banks for funding, which makes competition scarce and transaction costs high. In addition, a proliferation of government agencies issuing securities can fragment national government securities markets. Absence of a sound market infrastructure may make specific actions to develop a government securities market premature. A paucity of institutional investors, low domestic savings rates, and lack of interest from international investors can result in a small, highly homogeneous investor group, contrary to the heterogeneity needed for an efficient market. Furthermore, economic instability, often fed by high fiscal deficits, rapid growth of the money supply, and a deteriorating exchange rate, can weaken investor confidence and increase the risks associated with development of a market for government securities. This paper presents a brief overview of the key policy questions that arise for policymakers seeking to further develop their domestic government securities market.
Deliberative Democracy and the Resource Curse: A Nationwide Experiment in Tanzania
Oil and gas discoveries in developing countries are often associated with short-sighted economic policies and, in response, calls to insulate resource management from populist impulses. We report on a randomized experiment testing methods to overcome this apparent tension between sound resource governance and democratic politics. Soon after Tanzania’s discovery of major natural gas reserves, we invited a nationally representative sample of voters to an intensive public deliberation of policy options featuring nationally recognized experts and small-group discussions. Democratic deliberation reinforced the public’s strong preference for rapid spending of gas revenues, but also increased support for various prudential and economically orthodox measures, including independent oversight of gas revenues, limits on government borrowing, and selling gas abroad rather than subsidizing fuel at home. These effects were driven by deliberation per se, rather than a pure information treatment, and show no evidence of contamination by facilitatoror peer-effects in group deliberations. www.cgdev.org Justin Sandefur, Nancy Birdsall, James Fishkin, and Mujobu Moyo