Economic and Financial Reform Program

Progress fairly steady but slow. Implementation of the EFRP (Economic and Financial Reform Program) has been satisfactory but has often taken longer than anticipated, particularly in the area of legislative reform. The number of policy actions and reforms monitored through the EFRP has varied greatly each year - 49 in 2010, 31 in 2011, 77 in 2012, and 29 in 2013. While reform actions were initially evenly divided between PFM (public financial management) and budget reform on the one hand and economic growth on the other, the clear focus in later years has been on public expenditure and financial management. The joint review mission assessment each year has typically shown that more than one-half of the actions planned have been completed. The performance on actions related to economic growth and the business environment seem to have been stronger in most years than performance on those related to public expenditure and financial management. With the exception of 2011, the share of total actions considered to be off track - i.e., no progress - has been less than 10%. However, almost all legislation has been several years behind the intended timetables and therefore EFRP policy actions that include legislative reform need to have realistic timelines.