WB Finances Efforts to Make Social Spending More Efficient
WASHINGTON, December 13th, 2012 — Peru will improve the quality of its social programs to target the 4.74 million Peruvians living in conditions of social exclusion through US$55 million in financing approved today by the World Bank Board of Directors for the Social Inclusion Development Policy Loan and Technical Assistance Project.
“These reforms will help strengthen the role of the Development and Social Inclusion Ministry (MIDIS) as the governing body in charge of the social inclusion agenda and will set the foundation for improving the efficiency of key programs such as Juntos, Pension 65 and a new school meal program, Qali Warma (Vigorous Child in Quechua),” said Carolina Trivelli, Minister of Development and Social Inclusion.
She added that the initiative “will make social spending more efficient, equitable and results-oriented by through changes in the targeting, monitoring, evaluation and implementation systems of social programs and policies.”
These operations take advantage of the lessons learned from other World Bank initiatives around the world, including the experience gained during the implementation of conditional cash transfer programs, social pensions, school meal programs, monitoring and evaluation and targeting of social spending.
“We are talking about ambitious reforms that will reduce the level of social exclusion in the country. Along with the government, we expect concrete results on the lives of those people that have missed the benefits of economic growth,” said Susan Goldmark, World Bank Regional Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
The senior official explained how 2013 project activities will contribute to the following:
- One hundred percent of the poorest children in Peru will receive a diversified meal at school through the new school meal program, Qali Warma;
- At least 150,000 poor and extremely poor individuals will join the Juntos conditional cash transfer program.
- The Pension 65 Program will cover at least 65 percent of elderly people living in extreme poverty.
The WB will support, alongside other donors such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Food Programme (WFP), the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), three of the five social programs carried out by MIDIS, namely:
- The National Support Program for the Poorest, Juntos, which offers conditional cash transfers in 14 provinces in the country.
- The Pension 65 National Aid Support Program which grants a pension to extremely poor people over 65 years of age.
- The new school meal program, Qali Warma, which will provide a quality service to children in public pre- and primary schools.
The MIDIS will be the technical leader responsible of implementation, while acquisition and financial management duties will be undertaken by the Sector Loan Coordinating Unit (UCPS) at the Economy and Finance Ministry of Peru.
Both operations, totaling US$55 million, have a variable margin interest rate, with an eight-year maturity period and a five-year grace period.
