ML-Finance Sec Dev (FY00) -(PDSF)

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The Financial Sector Development Project for Mali aims to improve the soundness, performance, and competitiveness of the financial sector and enable it to support broad-based private sector growth. The project has five components. The first restructures and privatizes the commercial banking sector. It finances legal and advisory services to help the government prepare to evaluate banks to be privatized; prepare a privatization strategy, method, prospectus, and bidding documents; analyze the bids, recommend investor selection; and close the transaction. The second component strengthens non-bank financial institutions by funding audits; management information systems, staff training, technical assistance, and advisory services. The third component strengthens the capacity of the support and monitoring unit for micro-finance institutions (CAS/SFD), the professional association of microfinance institutions (by information sharing, dissemination of best practices, networking, and other demand-based services), and microfinance institutions themselves. The fourth component finances consultancy services and technical assistance to help identify and remove constraints in the regulatory and legal environment; conform the national and regional laws concerning credit; and implement regulations concerning loan guarantees, loan recovery, and incentives for new financial institutions and instruments. The fifth component strengthens the capacity of department in the finance ministry.