Can the Sudan achieve the MDGs given its past and present expenditure allocation patterns?

This paper assesses the potential and possible pitfalls, for Sudan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This assessment is based on an analysis of past and present expenditure patterns of Sudan. The paper recommends that Sudan should promote a long-term government development strategy, which should aim to sustain economic growth and maintain macroeconomic stability. More specifically, the Sudanese government should:

• adopt a series of policies to reduce the intensity of the level and incidence of poverty
• adopt appropriate pro-poor fiscal and monetary policies for rural development and economic growth to improve the economic conditions of the poor
• maintain sound and sustained macro-economic stability to facilitate sustained economic growth through strengthening and enabling the environment for private investment and competitive markets
• adopt and apply new technologies, seeds and modern methods of production in farming and other rural economic activities to improve factor productivities and increased output returns and thus alleviate poverty
• adopt a strong participatory approach allowing farmers to participate in designing, implementing and monitoring development programmes
• encourage private and public sectors to critically provide insurance against expected and unexpected economic shocks
• increase both block (unconditional) and earmarked (conditional) transfers to sub national governments and levels (states and localities) to strengthen pro-poor sectors

More importantly, enormous government expenditures should be allocated to the most essential social services that have direct effect on achieving the MDGs in the Sudan. On the problem of external debts the Sudan has some positive points that will allow it to benefit from the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status. This will improve its opportunities to solve its debt problem and enjoy the reception of substantial concessional aid and debt relief to achieve its MDGs.

The paper concludes that, in order to protect itself from falling back in the trap the Sudan has to develop:

• a sound and viable borrowing strategy within a framework of comprehensive institutional capacity building development programmes
• improve the economic governance
• enhance and sustain the economic growth strategy
• establish transparent and accountable economic and political institutions and a culture of productiveness
• improve the use of resources for services delivery and development

The development of such a system requires structural and institutional reforms.