Il report del Fondo Monetario Internazionale sul Kiribati traccia un bilancio positivo del riforme del settore pubblico, oggetto di una progressiva liberalizzazione o ristrutturazione. Di seguito, i passaggi del report più rilevanti su questo tema.
B. Implementing SOE (State-Owned Enterprises ndr) Reforms
19. Significant progress has been made in SOE reforms. Reforming SOEs is important not only for a better allocation of scarce public resources (through reducing subsidies and guarantees to underperforming enterprises), but their divestment would also open opportunities for private sector growth. Recent progress includes the adoption of the SOE Act in 2013, the closure of underperforming SOEs, and the measures taken to commercialize and improve the operational efficiency of other SOEs (Box 5).
Box 5. Improving the Efficiency of State-Owned Enterprises1
The SOE Act approved in 2013 was an important milestone, stipulating the requirement for every SOE to operate as a successful and sustainable business. The key areas of focus are the following:
- Improved financial reporting and governance. All SOEs (currently 18) should submit Statement of Intents no later than 2 months before the beginning of the financial year. This allows SOEs to think strategically, improve their business plans and better manage their cash flows. The number of civil servants on SOE Boards has also been reduced.
- Greater transparency of subsidies, in particular through introducing on-budget subsidies covering community service obligations.
- Restructuring. Because the public sector had expanded excessively into several commercial activities that could be undertaken by the private sector, it was decided to assess for each SOE whether it should be kept as a fully public entity (and possibly restructured), privatized, or moved towards a public-private partnership model. Decision criteria included the SOE primary role (commercial, regulatory, administrative), its supply of community service obligations, and its viability.
- Monitoring. The Act also established the SOE Monitoring Unit within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to monitor the performance of all SOEs.Significant steps have already been taken, with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Several SOEs were successfully privatized (government hotel, government retailer, and Telecommunications Company) and a few others should be transformed into public-private partnership concessions (shipping and shipyard), although the majority will remain under government control. The government is also merging the two SOEs in the coconut sector to improve efficiency. Overall, profitability of most SOEs has been improving. Future technical assistance will assist in seeking solutions to improve performance of the electricity company.
1 Prepared by Malie Lototele, AsDB
