Archiv der Kategorie: Moldawien

Moldova’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today discussed Moldova’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (known in Moldova as the Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper – EGPRSP) and the Joint IDA -IMF Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) on Moldova’s EGPRSP. Moldova’s EGPRSP was adopted by the Government in May 2004 and submitted to the World Bank and IMF in June 2004.

The Bank’s Board supported the three-pillar EGPRSP that focuses on
(i) sustaining economic growth through maintaining macroeconomic stability, improving the business environment, and accelerating structural reforms;
(ii) strengthening human development through improving education and health; and
(iii) strengthening social protection and inclusion.

The Board recognized that the proposed strategy, underpinned by a sound diagnostic of the poverty situation and transition experience, is comprehensive and can, over time, foster growth and reduce poverty.

„Moldova’s EGPRSP was developed through an extensive participatory process that involved stakeholders and civil society on all levels,“ said Paul Bermingham, the World Bank’s Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. „The World Bank stands ready to support the Government in strengthening the EGPRSP during its implementation so that it can become an effective and credible policy framework for poverty reduction. We also look forward to our Board’s discussion of the next World Bank Country Assistance Strategy for Moldova in December 2004, which would outline the necessary support in selected areas to contribute to the effective implementation of the EGPRSP,“ he added.

The Executive Directors noted with concern several critical areas where current policies do not match those articulated in the EGPRSP. These include slow progress in implementing structural reforms, increased government interventions in economic activity, and the unsustainable medium-term fiscal framework. Directors noted that these actions limit the scope for IDA concessional assistance. They urged the authorities to rectify these policy actions, especially in the areas of state monopolies, licensing and regulation, land consolidation and agriculture subsidies, pension reform, and privatization. They underscored the need for the authorities to demonstrate a good track record of implementation and encouraged Moldovan authorities to continue to engage stakeholders and civil society in the EGPRSP implementation, monitoring and evaluation.


IDA – International Development Association is the Bank’s concessional lending
arm that provides key support for the Bank’s poverty reduction mission. Its
assistance is focused on the poorest countries– with a per person income of
less than $885–to which it provides interest-free loans and grants.
IMF – International Monetary Fund

World Bank approved a US$ 20.0 m. for the Moldova Social Investment Fund

June 17, 2004 – The World Bank today approved a US$20.0 million equivalent credit for the Moldova Social Investment Fund 2 Project (SIF 2). This project is a continuation of the first Social Investment Fund project, which was successfully implemented in rural areas over the last 5 years.

The objective of the project is to provide access to better quality of basic social and economic services in education, environment, water, roads and other services in poor rural communities and small towns. The project will also contribute to the development of capacity of community organizations, and to strengthening social capital. The project is closely linked to, and supports the objectives outlined in Moldova’s Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, and will help in establishing a regular feedback mechanism to reflect community experiences in changing national policies.

„This is a very important project that supports local level development and helps the poorest communities to help themselves,“ said Anush Bezhanyan, head of the World Bank team that designed the project. „The results of the first project were very encouraging, particularly in terms of supporting community organizations and networks, and introducing transparent mechanisms of implementation and accountability. With the second project, every effort should be made to have this good example continue at the village level, but also to expand it to small towns that had the sharpest decline in living standards in recent years. It is important to learn systematic lessons from the implementation which should help to make the project approach more sustainable.“

The project will provide funding for implementation of activities under the four main components:

  • The Community Development component will finance activities for rural community development, small town community development and community capacity building.
  • The Social Care Services Development component will finance activities for the social care services sub-projects and for the capacity building of local government and service providers.
  • The Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation and Capacity Building component will finance activities for capacity building of governmental institutions and learning of policy lessons, for communication, dissemination and replication of
    best practices, and for monitoring and evaluation.
  • The Project Management component will finance activities to support project implementation and will mainly support the SIF 2 Executive Office operations.

The total amount of the SIF 2 Project is US$ 29.17 million, out of which the IDA credit is US$20.0 million, US$1.53 million represents the Government’s contribution and US$3.73 million will be covered by local communities. The remainder is expected to be covered by donor co-financing grants. The project will be implemented over the period of five years: October 2004 to September 2009.

The World Bank credit will be disbursed on standard IDA terms, with no interest rate, and will be repayable in 40 years, including a 10-year grace period.

Moldova joined the World Bank in 1992. Since then, commitments to the country total approximately US$572 million for 24 operations.