Sao Tome and Principe - Performance and Learning Review of the Country Partnership Strategy for the Period FY14-FY18 (Anglais)

The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) supported STP’s Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP II, 2012-2016), which aimed to maintain macroeconomic stability, diversification, and promote private sector-led growth. The CPS was structured around...  Voir la suite The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) supported STP’s Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP II, 2012-2016), which aimed to maintain macroeconomic stability, diversification, and promote private sector-led growth. The CPS was structured around two themes: (1) supporting macroeconomic stability and national competitiveness; and (2) reducing vulnerability and strengthening human capacity. Gender, partnerships, and capacity building were elements cutting across all the proposed engagements, as were the promotion of inclusive private sector-led growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability. STP’s economic outlook has improved relative to the beginning of the CPS period, but remoteness, small size, and insularity constrain the opportunities for inclusive growth. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been hovering around 4 percent during the CPS period and is expected to remain at the same level in the medium term. Inflation has decreased, and external accounts have improved since 2015 due to lower oil prices and growing agricultural and tourism exports. Fiscal policy is the Achilles heel of economic policy, characterized by low domestic revenue mobilization, poor public financial management, aid dependency, and debt distress. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) program in place through most of the CPS period has helped maintain macroeconomic stability, but progress towards the program objectives was mixed. Tourism and agriculture are the main drivers of growth, and bottlenecks in transport, electricity, relevant skills, and the financial system need to be addressed for faster, job-creating growth. The PLR proposes a two-year extension of the FY14-FY18 CPS until the end of FY20. This PLR is being presented after the closing of the original CPS period, largely due to changing program preferences under the previous government and subsequently, the transition to the new government. The proposed extension would allow time to build ownership and trust with the newly elected government ahead of the development of the forthcoming Country Partnership Framework (CPF) and allow more time to achieve revised targets under this more ambitious PLR. In addition, it would allow the CPF to be informed by the Poverty Assessment and the findings of the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) to be finalized in early FY20.  Réduire