Republic of Mozambique : Evaluation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Process and Arrangements Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility

Abstract

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
 and the World Bank introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy
 Paper (PRSP) process in 1999 to strengthen the poverty
 alleviation focus of their assistance to low-income
 countries. At the IMF, the introduction of the PRSP was
 accompanied by the transformation of the Enhanced Structural
 Adjustment Facility (ESAF), the concessional lending window,
 into the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), with
 a view to giving a more central role to poverty reduction
 and pro-poor growth considerations in the design of
 IMF-supported programs in low-income countries. The rest of
 the report is organized as follows. Part two provides
 background information on poverty incidence in Mozambique,
 as well as on political and economic developments since the
 early 1990s. The relevance of the PRSP approach to
 Mozambique s situation, application of the underlying
 principles, and preliminary evidence on results, are
 examined in part three. The effectiveness of IMF assistance,
 including alignment of the PRGF and technical assistance to
 PRSP objectives is assessed in part four. Part five
 considers the effectiveness of World Bank support, also
 including alignment of that support to the objectives of the
 PRSP approach. Part six reviews IMF-World Bank collaboration
 in relation to the PRSP process, and part seven presents the
 main conclusions and lessons.