Economic Governance & Recovery Grant III

closed

The objective of the Third Economic Governance and Recovery Grant Program (EGRG III) for Cote d'Ivoire is to support government owned reforms to improve governance, transparency and efficiency in public expenditure management as well as deepen structural reforms aimed at strengthening governance and transparency in key sectors. It will focus on supporting the Government's efforts to strengthen budget preparation, execution, controls and accountability, and help enhance governance, transparency and efficiency in the energy, cocoa, and financial sectors. The operation will provide financial support to the government in the context of the unfavorable global economic environment and the fact that Cote d'Ivoire's annual debt service to the World Bank will remain considerable until attainment of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) completion point expected for the first half of 2011. A rapid improvement in public financial management and governance and transparency in the energy, cocoa and financial sectors is critical to sustain the ongoing peace process and recovery of the economy. Specifically, the Government needs to ensure that scarce public resources are utilized efficiently and transparently to provide essential public services, that resources raised in the cocoa sector are effectively used to rebuild the sector, and that the overall tax burden is reduced to ensure that the farmers obtain a higher share of the world price. The Government has already implemented a number of governance reforms, and intends to pursue and deepen these efforts as it continues its post-conflict recovery.