Focus in scope is important. The extended time period, the considerable amounts of counterpart and staff time, and the breadth of technical assistance (TA) support involved in program implementation (6 years and about $6 million in loan and grant-based TA resources) clearly indicate the scope and complexity of the program. Significant additional support was also provided under rural finance-related projects to address Agriculture Promotion Bank (APB) and microfinance-related measures. The BSRP's core and immediate objective was to address the crisis facing the banking sector by restructuring and restoring the SOCBs to financial health. Reforms directed at this objective required close attention and significant support given their urgency and fundamental nature. As noted above, however, the program's scope also included a wide range of other measures (e.g., reform of the judicial system) that diluted focus and complicated implementation (involving a significant number of implementing agencies, for one, made coordination more difficult) without directly supporting the achievement of the program's main objective, partly because of the much longer time and greater resources needed for effective implementation. Closer assessment of the judicial system at the time of program formulation could have highlighted the very basic level of capacity present, the long-term nature of the support needed, and inherent difficulties in meaningfully achieving the proposed goals within the program time frame and available resources.
Banking Sector Reform Program