Bangladesh : strategic options for job creation -- final report

This paper presents a strategy for sustainable job creation, using two matrices to rank possible options. Matrix one ranks strategic options according to their contribution to sustainable development (economic growth with maximum participation by the poor), while Matrix two ranks options with reference to USAID management considerations such as cost and fit with Mission program objectives. The proposed strategy, entitled Job Opportunities through Banking and Business Support (JOBBS), builds on past USAID projects, but concentrates on the creation of credit windows to provide selected client groups, namely NGOs and medium-sized enterprises, with access to capital. Medium-sized enterprise lending would be oriented toward firms that create new export products and markets, produce high-value agricultural and horticultural products, or engage in high-growth manufacturing areas. The strategy also calls for increased participation by NGOs, based on their ability to secure commercial lending for on-lending. Activities will include: (1) public banking reform and export financing; (2) public banking and access to credit for NGOs; (3) public banking training; (4) banking sector reform; (5) small and medium size enterprise growth, trade, and development; (6) policy and regulatory analysis and interventions. Finally, evaluation criteria incorporating PRISM (Program Performance Information for Strategic Management) measurements sensitized to the client-banking relationship and institutional sustainability are outlined.