WASHINGTON, November 18, 2014 – The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$36 million development policy credit and a US$27 million development policy grant for the republic of Mali to help strengthen government accountability and transparency as well as improve public sector spending.
The financing approved today support’s the First Recovery and Governance Reform Support Operation, a series of two development policy operations, which is closely aligned with the Mali Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (CSRP-3) and the Government Action Plan (GAP) 2013-18. It will reinforce the government’s efforts through support to activities that:
- Strengthen the legal autonomy and capacity of the Audit Section of the Supreme Court, and carry out judgments of accounts of major local governments;
- Adopt transparent criteria for the recruitment and promotion of high-level civil servants and undertake a census of the civil service;
- Implement the transparency code and the law on illicit enrichment; publish transaction audits of off-budget expenditures incurred in 2014;
- Create a budget line for perpetuating extractive industry transparency initiative activities and publish the inventory of all existing mining and petroleum contracts; implement the recovery plan for the electricity sector aiming at reducing from 2014 public utility’s losses;
- Adopt and implement the policy framework establishing performance contracts between the State and regional governments;
- Adopt and implement the action plan developed to reduce delays in public procurement and revise the procurement code;
- Create a budget line for financing public investment projects feasibility studies; and
- Publish annually the Medium Term External Resource Framework and formally integrate it in joint budget reviews and high-level quarterly meeting between Government and DPs.
“In order to rebuild the stability of Mali, efforts must focus on strengthening executive accountability through improved controls over the use of public financial resources and greater transparency. The crisis of 2012 brought forth questions regarding the quality of institutions in Mali and their ability to serve and protect citizens and external factors that contributed to country’s destabilization. There is an urgent need to strengthen central and local governance for greater state legitimacy”, said Paul Noumba um, World Bank Country Director for Mali. “The Development Policy Operation (DPO) supports the government’s effort to improve governance with stronger checks and balances on institutions, specifically through enhanced transparency and strengthening external control agencies.”
“In the short-term, the government faces the challenges of promoting Mali’s economy while tackling governance challenges. Today’s approved operation supports the government in addressing these challenges”, said Sébastien Dessus, Task Team Leader. “Activities included in the operation will focus on improving transparency, strengthening fiduciary and institutional controls, reducing opportunities for corruption and inefficient subsidies, as well as improving public investment, accelerating public procurement and building local government budget management capacity.”
The First Recovery and Governance Reform Support Operation has been prepared in close coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since the onset of the political crisis in 2012, the IMF and World Bank teams collaborated closely, with a view to respond swiftly and flexibly to the new environment.
The IMF and World Bank teams are also collaborating on issues of public financial management with a clear division of labor, as reflected in the complementarity between prior actions in the proposed operation and structural benchmarks in the Extended Credit Facility ECF, the latter focusing in particular on strengthening tax collection and improving treasury management.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 77 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change for 2.8 billion people living on less than $2 a day. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 112 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $18 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent going to Africa.
