WASHINGTON, April 29, 2010 - The World Bank’s Board of Directors approved a US$100 million loan to support the Moroccan government’s efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of public resource management.
This loan is the second in a series of programmatic loans designed to support the implementation of the Government’s Public Administration Reform Program (PARAP) which aims to improve the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of the public administration.
This Fourth Public Administration Reform Loan IV (PARLIV) supports the overall objectives of the series, namely : (a) improving Government efficiency in the management of budget resources through greater transparency and accountability, and by introducing performance measurement; (b) improving government efficiency in the management of human resources through the preparation of a new management system for staffing and remuneration with performance measurement, while streamlining current human resources management; (c) consolidating and controlling public payroll; and (d) improving public services and simplifying procedures through e-government.
Morocco launched its Public Administration Reform Program in early 2002. On July 1, 2004, a first Public Administration Development loan was approved by World Bank Board and has since then supported Government in its medium term reform agenda in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
“PARL-IV continues to foster Morocco ambitious public administration reform program. Over the years progress in implementation of the reform agenda supported by the PARL series has led to tangible results on several policy areas. For example, the budget reform actions taken contributed to the improvement of budget management parameters, especially execution rates of the economic and social investment projects. In addition, the reform process has led to improved structure of the budget as more resources have been channelled to investment. Looking forward, a new series is envisaged to support the next phase of the program and further strengthen the results orientation for enhanced service delivery”, commented Mrs. Francoise Clottes, Acting Maghreb Department Director.
The PARL IV is complemented and strengthened by an ongoing multiyear Programmatic Economic Sector Work activity through which the Bank is providing the Government with advice, training, and technical assistance as required in the areas of public finance management, human resource management, wage bill containment, and e-government.
The PARL IV is also a key component of the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) (FY10-FY13), endorsed by the board of the World Bank on January 26. It contributes to the achievement of the first and second CPS pillars of: (i) promoting macro-economic stability and private sector development as an engine of growth and (ii) support to the improvement in access to, and quality of services. In addition the project is fully aligned with the CPS cross cutting theme of enhancing governance.
Together with the PARL IV approval, the Board allocated a €60 million (US$80.3 million equivalent) additional financing in the form of a loan to the Kingdom, for the Second Rural Roads Project which is part of a multi-donor program in support of rural accessibility and inclusive development.
The Second Rural Roads Project contributes to achieving the general objectives of the National Program of Rural Roads (NPRR-2) which aim at increasing the level of access of the rural population from 54% in 2005 to 67% in 2010 and 80% by the end of the Program in 2012.
