Kazakstan: Transition of the State

by World Bank Group

This report argues that to avoid a crisis of state, Kazakstan needs to reform its state apparatus and safeguard key public services. It highlights the ways in which reforms in the state ' s structures, in public resource management systems, and in key programs could facilitate the government ' s adjusting its role in managing the country ' s economic and social life. Identified are five priority directions for the state ' s (1) a deliberate shrinking of administrative structures, leading to a release of redundant personnel; (2) a consolidation of the social sector facilities to maintain coverage and quality by shifting toward more outpatient and ambulatory treatment in the health sector and increasing student/teacher ratios in education; (3) the adoption of budget management instruments aimed at selecting priorities among competing needs determined by market forces and consumers, rather than distributing resources according to exogenously defined uses (as was the case under the command system); (4) a differentiation of public interventions across the country according to the priorities of local populations, through a gradual devolution of responsibilities to bodies of local self-government; and (5) the creation of personnel management systems which foster motivation, continuity, and professionalism in the civil service.

240 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 1998

About the author

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group. The bank is based in Washington, D.C. and provided around $61 billion in loans and assistance to "developing" and transition countries in the 2014 fiscal year. The bank's stated mission is to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity. Its five organizations are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank's (the IBRD and IDA's) activities are focused on developing countries, in fields such as human development (e.g. education, health), agriculture and rural development (e.g. irrigation and rural services), environmental protection (e.g. pollution reduction, establishing and enforcing regulations), infrastructure (e.g. roads, urban regeneration, and electricity), large industrial construction projects, and governance (e.g. anti-corruption, legal institutions development). The IBRD and IDA provide loans at preferential rates to member countries, as well as grants to the poorest countries. Loans or grants for specific projects are often linked to wider policy changes in the sector or the country's economy as a whole. For example, a loan to improve coastal environmental management may be linked to development of new environmental institutions at national and local levels and the implementation of new regulations to limit pollution, or not, such as in the World Bank financed constructions of paper mills along the Rio Uruguay in 2006.