The Changing Financial Landscape : Opportunities and Challenges for the Middle East and North Africa
Economists have come to acknowledge that finance matters for development more, and in more ways than had been recognized for a long time. Changes in the financial services industry are providing immense possibilities for economic development. Grais...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/05/2360831/changing-financial-landscape-opportunities-challenges-middle-east-north-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18188 |
| Summary: | Economists have come to acknowledge that
finance matters for development more, and in more ways than
had been recognized for a long time. Changes in the
financial services industry are providing immense
possibilities for economic development. Grais and Kantur
present a framework to help understand the changes occurring
in the financial landscape. They also attempt to lay out the
opportunities and the challenges the Middle East and
Northern Africa region faces in light of these changes. The
framework views financial development as a two-way,
continuous, and dynamic interaction between, on the one
hand, three driving forces shaping the industry and, on the
other hand, four stylized dimensions of financial services.
These driving forces jointly modify the financial landscape
and are at the same time influenced by the effects of these
changes. The three driving forces are financial
liberalization, technological changes, and market innovation
in response to demands for financial services. The four
dimensions of financial services that are altered by the
forces at play are disintermediation, institutionalization,
modernization, and globalization. The authors provide a
strategic perspective on the opportunities and challenges
the profound changes in the financial industry bring to the
Middle East and North Africa region, its policymakers, and
market participants. |
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