Economic policy analysis support project

The evaluation covered the period 7/85-11/88. The project team could not identify as many avenues for policy interventions as was expected. So far, only one subproject (SP), within the Pricing Directorate (PD), has been initiated. While successful as a training and institution building activity, the SP has made little progress towards the overall project goal of economic policy reform. PD staff capabilities are too low for the formation of an advanced economic policy unit, and while several studies of satisfactory quality have been produced, their ultimate effect on policy is unknown. There has also been considerable miscommunication between the counterpart agencies and project staff due to a lack of understanding of each other"s programming modalities, structures, and negotiating styles. The net result of 2 years of SP implementation assistance has been enhancement of an already high level of esprit de corps, but price controls remain in effect on many items through the Interior Ministry and local agencies. The current level of USAID/M involvement in the project appears to be too low to achieve the policy reform goals. An action decision is to implement a second SP to provide short-term assistance for policy measures and other possible SP"s. A project extension should also be considered.