Liberalisation and Universal Access to Basic Services
Telecommunications, Water and Sanitation, Financial Services, and Electricity
Building on a recent groundbreaking OECD/World Bank seminar, this volume explores whether and how trade liberalisation can contribute to achieving universal service goals and the types of complementary policies required. It focuses on experiences in four sectors - telecommunications, water and sanitation, financial services, and electricity. The unique multi-sector perspective taken in this book, together with the national case studies, yield insights which can help countries promote their universal access goals. A horizontal assessment also helps determine how far the current services negotiations in the WTO, under the General Agreement on Trade in Services, can aid the attainment of universal service goals.
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Provision of Financial Services in South Africa
This chapter explores the extent to which South African retail financial markets can truly be considered “liberal” and the factors that have contributed to the development of more liberalised markets. The main focus is on two sub-markets – transaction banking and credit – which appear relevant to a discussion of universal service provision. Both have been the subject of prominent initiatives in South Africa
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