Madagascar submitted a full PRSP to the Fund and World Bank on July 30,
2003, of which implementation had already begun. The full Madagascar Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) builds on the interim poverty reduction strategy
(I-PRSP) discussed by the Boards of the Fund and the Bank in November 2000, as well
as on a number of sector strategies and an earlier Strategy to Fight Poverty (2000), which
had been developed with support from the United Nations Development Program. A first
version of the full PRSP had been prepared by end-2001 before Madagascar entered a
deep political and economic crisis in January 2002, which ended with the international
recognition of the new government in July 2002; the crisis had a profound impact on the
economy as GDP contracted by 12.7 percent in 2002. Over the past year, the new
administration made significant changes to the draft PRSP it had inherited, including the
elevation of governance reforms to the core of the strategy and building sector strategies
around work program agreements between ministries and the presidency. A total of
fifteen different programs underlie three strategic axes:
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restoring a rule of law and a well-governed society;
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promoting economic growth with a large social base, and
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promoting systems for establishing human and material security and enlarging social protection.
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