Togo Second Fiscal Management & Infrastructure Reform DPO

closed

The grant in the amount of SDR 28.7 (US dollar 40 million equivalent) Development Policy Financing (DPF) is the second in a programmatic series of two operations. The series seeks to support the Government of Togo in: (i) mobilizing tax revenues and enhancing the efficiency of tax collection, public investment spending, and debt management; and (ii) strengthening financial viability and service delivery in the energy and ICT sectors. The DPF series rests on two pillars. The first pillar supports the government’s effort to improve fiscal management through enhancing tax revenue mobilization and collection efficiency. It also seeks to strengthen public investment and debt management. The second pillar supports measures to improve financial viability and service delivery in the energy and ICT sectors. The first operation included measures to reduce tax exemptions, facilitate tax payments, improve public investment management, settle arrears and ensure timely payments in the energy sector, and strengthen the institutional framework while promoting competition in the ICT sector. This second operation supports further reforms in those areas. It includes measures to simplify the tax system and broaden the tax base, ensure more discipline in the selection of public investment projects, enhance tariff setting, management, and planning in the energy sector, and further enhance competition and private sector participation in the ICT sector. Relative to the triggers identified at the time of DPF1, DPF2 has been strengthened to reflect a broader reform push by the Government, including on property taxes, debt management, and opening‐up of the ICT sector.