BI-ERSG II

closed

The Second Economic Reform Support Grant (ERSG II) is the first in a series of two grants designed to assist the Government of Burundi to continue implementing the country's poverty reduction strategy in order to transition from a post conflict economic environment to one that is focused on economic development driven by private sector growth. The 2006 stand alone ERSG aimed at supporting the Government in implementing the interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in three areas: (i) improving public expenditure management and the impact on the poor; (ii) reviving agriculture export crop sectors (coffee, tea, and cotton) by ensuring better revenue distribution among actors; and (iii) reviving the private sector by improving business climate, accelerating state divestiture, and settling the Government domestic arrears to the private sector. The ERSG II grant will support the Government to continue: (i) reforms in the public finance management system to improve accountability and transparency in public spending; (ii) reforms in the business legal and institutional environment to foster private-sector led growth; and (iii) reforms in the coffee sub-sector. It proposes to: (i) consolidate reforms already underway (in public finance management as identified in the recent joint Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR)); and (ii) to reenergize the reform process in private sector development (the legal and regulatory framework for the general business environment, and the coffee reform process). In addition it aims at continuing diagnostic works and support development of a strategic approach in areas where action is needed but knowledge is too limited (public enterprise reform). Thus, at the conclusion of the ERSG series, one would expect to see tangible progress with respect to each component of the proposed reform program.