Bosnia And Herzegovina Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Mid Term Development Strategy Joint Staff Assessment

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Poverty Reduction Strategy paper reports that significant progress has been made since the late 1990s in building both a market economy and a single economic space. GDP growth has slowed recently following the post-conflict bounce, and the current account deficit of 18 percent of GDP in 2003 is well above levels associated with external sustainability. The slowdown in GDP growth has occurred even though GDP had not recovered to pre-war levels at the end of 2003.

Poverty risk is most marked for children, displaced persons and returnees, unemployed, and people with low education. Basic goals of the macroeconomic framework of the mid-term development strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina are to reduce the overall public expenditures, lower the public debt, and to bring the current account deficit to a sustainable level through fiscal consolidation. The strategy is to attract more foreign investment, create conditions for a more efficient privatization process, and to ensure new cycles of donor assistance.

This Joint Staff Advisory Note focuses on Republic Of Moldova’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and National Development Strategy (NDS). The NDS unifies in one document the government’s poverty reduction strategy and development vision. The NDS argues that Moldova needs to add productivity-enhancing investment and exports as growth drivers to its traditional consumption-based growth model. The strong pace of growth observed in the mid-2000s was driven by domestic consumption fuelled by remittances. The NDS calls for a shift from the current consumption-based growth model toward one based on raising investments, increasing productivity and competitiveness, developing export industries, and promoting a knowledge-based society.

The joint staff Advisory Note on Senegal’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper reviews policies and strategies required to push forward the authority’s agenda for high, sustained, and inclusive growth and poverty reduction. The private sector is recognized as the main engine of growth in the Senegalese economy. The strategy is clearly focused on improving the investment climate, fostering entrepreneurship, and facilitating access to financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises, and consolidating support institutions. Senegal’s water and sanitation sector is one of the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa. The urban water Millennium Development Goal has been achieved, with access for 98 percent of the urban population, and the goal for rural water access is within reach.

This paper presents a Joint Staff Assessment of the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) for Bangladesh. The I-PRSP lays out a broader vision for the future along with a medium-term economic strategy. The IMF staff considers that Bangladesh’s I-PRSP constitutes a cohesive policy framework to increase growth and reduce poverty. However, some weaknesses remain to be addressed in the transition to the full PRSP. It will be important to more sharply prioritize near-term policies in key sectors and antipoverty programs, and incorporate their cost into the medium-term budget framework.

This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) reviews the Sudan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for the period 2021–2023. The PRSP was prepared by the Government of Sudan, drawing on lessons learned from the implementation of the 2012 interim poverty reduction strategy paper (I-PRSP).1 The PRSP was approved by the Council of Ministers on May 11, 2021. The government submitted the PRSP to IDA and the IMF on May 12, 2021 to fulfill the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative’s poverty reduction strategy requirement.