2005 PRS Review Balancing Accountabilities and Scaling Up Results

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2005 PRS ReviewBalancing Accountabilitiesand
Scaling Up Results

• The World Bank

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Presentation

• Overview PRS Approach
• Balancing Accountabilities
• Scaling Up Results

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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PRS snapshot

• Introduced in late 1999
• Intended a fundamental shift in relationship
• 49 countries ( 11 10)
• About half in sub-Saharan Africa
• About half HIPC
• Average implementation, 2 ½ years
• 3 countries have fully revised strategies

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Key PRS pillars
Poverty Reduction Strategy
Long-term perspective
Results-oriented
Country-driven
Comprehensive
Partnerships

• Country driven Country ownership, broad-based
  participation
• What do they really mean and why are they
  important ?

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Mutual accountability

• (Trade)

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Domestic accountability
Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Some factors that can tilt the balance
Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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(Re-) Balancing accountabilities
Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Linking PRS to budget processes

• Why important?
• Need to embed strategy in domestic
  institutions/processes otherwise just a paper
• Budget constraints encourage prioritization
• What has happened so far?
• Greater focus on public expenditure management
• Evidence of improvements, esp in HIPCs (albeit
  from low base)
• Initial focus budget formulation now increased
  attention budget execution and reporting
• Continued attention
• Coordinated, sequenced, demand-driving support
  for capacity building
• Political commitment and deep institutional
  reform

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Strengthening monitoring systems

• More focus on results highlighted lack of
  baseline data and robust monitoring systems
• Some improvements in data coverage, quality, and
  access (more needed)
• Real challenges
• Building monitoring systems that coordinate the
  collection of data and its analysis.
• Creating demand for evidence based decision
  making (using information in policy making).

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Institutionalize participation

• Who neglected stakeholders, specialization
• What opening policy space
• When formulation/implementation
• How rules of the game, communications, invited
  space or entitled space

Aspire Engage
Influence
Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Strengthening content, analytical foundations

• Poverty analysis
• Analysis of growth and the productive sectors
• how the poor benefit from growth (e.g., jobs)
• coherent sectoral strategies
• Use of distributional analysis (PSIA) of key
  policy measures to inform policy design, choices,
  and sequencing.

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Realism vs. ambition

• PRSs need to be realistic to provide the basis
  for an operational framework to reduce poverty
• But, countries may also have more ambitious
  medium- to long-term goals (such as the MDGs)
• Using alternative scenarios could provide a link
  between realism and ambition. Elements could
  include
• Assumed financing (aid and domestic resource
  mobilization)
• Actions to address absorptive constraints
• Expected improvement in results

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Scaling up (results)

• Likelihood of substantial increases in aid flows
  provides scope for scaling up poverty reduction
  efforts
• How to help use additional resources well
• Continuing process of improving
  quality/specificity of PRSs
• Understanding and addressing absorptive
  constraints

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Absorptive constraints

• Indicative classification
• Macroeconomic Debt sustainability
• Dutch disease effects (currency spikes)
• Human, physical capital Technical and
  managerial skills of public officials
• Lack of adequate infrastructure and
  equipment
• Institutional and policy Perverse incentives
  due to recruitment systems
• Inadequate Public Expenditure Management
• Social factors determining demand for
  services
• Donor behavior Aid volatility
• Uncoordinated donor behavior
• Difficulties to shift to improved donor
  behavior

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results
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Thank You

• www.worldbank.org/prspreview

Overview
Balancing
Accountabilities
Scaling Up Results