Many governments and nongovernmental organizations have adopted policies to promote the growth of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The appropriate level and form of support for MFIs are discussed in this paper on the basis of a review of key MFI characteristics. Governments are also responsible...

This report summarizes the First Annual Progress Report on the Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (PRGS) program. It assesses the status of the strategy implementation and monitoring mechanism, and emphasizes the need to face enormous development challenges and curb poverty and unemployment....

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) describes The Gambia’s macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in support of growth and poverty reduction, external financing needs, and major sources of financing. Since PRSP I had experienced some setbacks during its implementation,...

This paper explores the role of foreign aid and remittance inflows in the mitigation of the effects of food price shocks. Using a large sample of developing countries and mobilising dynamic panel data specifications, the econometric results yield two important findings. First, remittance and aid...

This paper examines the Progress Report for Albania’s National Strategy for Socio-Economic Development (NSSED). 2002 was the first year of implementing the NSSED. The implementation process has been oriented toward achieving the annual objectives and in accordance with the program of...

Global food aid is considered a critical consumption smoothing mechanism in many countries. However, its record of stabilizing consumption has been mixed. This paper examines the cyclical properties of food aid with respect to food availability in recipient countries, with a view to assessing...