United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-05-08 monographic deposited born digital 77 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-581 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581 P0b002ee18039141a f:d01581 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581 GAO-01-581 Developing countries Economic growth Federal aid to foreign countries Foreign loans International economic relations International organizations Macroeconomic analysis Albania Benin Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative Other Written Product A00892 The effectiveness and appropriateness of the International Monetary Fund's lending programs to poor countries have been widely debated, generally centering on whether the program have improved these countries' economies. In response to come of these concerns, and as part of a concerted international effort to reduce poverty, in September 1999, the Fund expanded the goals of its lending program to its poorest members to include an explicit focus on poverty reduction. In November 1999, to underscore this focus, the Fund renamed its concessional lending program from the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility to the Poverty Reduction and Frowth Facility. GAO found that although the design of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility does not differ significantly from the Fund's previous program, certain elements of the new program are emphasized more now than in the past. The one major design change--getting countries to take ownership of their macroeconomic framework--is difficult to achieve for three reasons. First, the limited capacity of many recipient governments to independently analyze and effectively negotiate the macroeconomic framework reduces the opportunity for country-specific elements to be addressed. Second, the challenges to effectively engaging nongovernmental organizations in a dialogue on these very complex matters are significant. Finally, a national dialogue on the choice of effective policies is hampered by the limited knowledge of all parties about how different policies actually effect elements of the macroeconomic framework. GAO found few changes in the Fund programs of the three countries reviewed that can be clearly attributed to the changes that the Fund announced in 1999. Nonetheless, the three countries faced several difficulties in developing a nationally owned macroeconomic framework. First, each government has limited capacity to independently analyze macroeconomic issues. Second, while all three governments have begun a dialogue with nongovernmental organizations, many people that GAO spoke with were unsure how to use this dialogue to address the countries' complex macroeconomic policies and targets, other than the composition and level of spending. Finally, GAO did not see evidence of the changes in the three countries' Fund documents that were called for under the new program. If the changes announced by the Fund for its lending program to its poorest members actually improve the overall effectiveness of a country's development program, the likelihood of earlier graduation from the Fund's program could increase. However, the impact of these changes on economic growth is unknown at this time. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581.pdf GAO-01-581 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-581 Other Written Product GAO-01-581; International Monetary Fund: Few Changes Evident in Design of New Lending Program for Poor Countries; Developing countries Economic growth Federal aid to foreign countries Foreign loans International economic relations International organizations Macroeconomic analysis Albania Benin Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative