Aid could be increased

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank could increase aid to Mozambique, news reports said on Wednesday. This came less than one week after the two organisations granted the country additional debt relief of US $600 million under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC). In an evaluation of Mozambique's Action Programme for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA), the analysts from the two organisations said that despite some shortcomings and "over-optimism", the two financial institutions were generally complementary towards Mozambique's efforts to reduce poverty. "...The World Bank and the IMF consider that it presents a credible poverty reduction strategy that is a sound basis for IDA and Fund concessional assistance. The staffs recommend that the Executive Directors of the World Bank and the IMF reach the same conclusion," noted the evaluation. The report notes for example that in spite of "neither the government nor organisations of civil society having much experience in the establishment of partnerships for the formulation and discussion of policies", there has been a positive effort in the drawing up of PARPA in which there has been "a significant number of consultations with interested groups". According to the analysts report, PARPA envisages a 30 percent reduction in the absolute poverty level over a 13-year period "from 80 percent in 1997 to less than 60 percent in 2005 and 50 percent in 2010. "There is room for further development of the poverty analysis, particularly including aspects of gender, HIV/AIDS and vulnerability. Regarding the policy programmes, there is a need for further attention to prioritisation and sequencing, and a greater emphasis on implementation (including aspects of quality and efficiency as well as access)," said the evaluation.