Polices to roll-back the state and privatise? [PRSPs]

Short paper reviewing experience with PRSPs, based on an examination of four PRSPs and twelve interim documents, along with comments made by civil society groups from developing countries.

Findings include:

• across highly indebted poor countries, civil society groups are unsatisfied with the extent of public involvement in drawing up the strategy papers. It also appears that government ownership of PRSPs is weakened by the continued influence of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank
• the policy content of these strategies does not constitute a major change from the past. This is particularly worrying given the substantial body of evidence showing that structural adjustment programmes did not reduce poverty
• the actual policies included do not have clear poverty reducing consequences. The strategies still focus on economic growth without, on the most part, addressing how this growth is to be redistributed to the poor. The core macro-economic elements have changed little from the old structural adjustment programmes with a continued adherence to privatisation, liberalisation and a reduced role for the state
• Most of the poverty reduction strategies also fail to address adequately areas vital to poverty reduction, such as gender analysis. They also lack ‘reality checks’ on the domestic and global context

[author]