Regions and Countries

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p. 16 of 20 BACK | NEXT I. Country Performance Assessment II. Country Operational Strategy III. Sector Strategies IV. Regional Cooperation V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination VI. Cofinancing and Catalyzing External Resources VII. ADB’s Operational Program VIII. Economic and Sector Work Program IX. Local Cost Financing

Country Assistance Plans - Tajikistan

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V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination

64. Tajikistan has received limited external assistance since independence and the multilateral agencies are the major sources (Appendix 3). The first Consultative Group (CG) Meeting for Tajikistan was held in Tokyo in October 1996 and indications of pledges amounting to $185 million in 1997 were received. During the Second CG Meeting in Paris in May 1998, total assistance of $280 million was committed for 1998-1999. The third CG Meeting is tentatively scheduled in April 2001. The multilateral agencies accounted for nearly 90 percent of total assistance for Tajikistan as of July 1998. The balance was covered by bilateral sources such as Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States and also by nongovernment organizations. The perceived high risks to project implementation and personal safety are the principal factors for the slow entry of much bilateral assistance.

65. The IMF provided its first assistance to Tajikistan in May 1996 under a standby arrangement amounting to $22 million. It also approved postconflict assistance of $20 million in December 1997. Satisfactory progress under the postconflict program has resulted in the approval on 24 June 1998 of an ESAF (the current PRGF) program totaling $128 million over a three-year period.

66. WB has been the major source of development assistance to Tajikistan in the post-independence period. Since Tajikistan became a member of WB in 1993, ten International Development Association (IDA) loans totaling $196.6 million and grants totaling $11.7 million were approved by end-June 2000. WB's initial Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) approved in September 1996 was intended to provide support to meet Tajikistan's immediate needs. The WB program began with 3 operations that were intended to (i) strengthen institutional capacity to plan and implement a medium-term program of structural reform; (ii) support the Government's efforts to stabilize the economy; and (iii) moderate the impact of the economic collapse on vulnerable groups. The second WB's CAS (July 1998) envisages total lending of $220 million to Tajikistan for FY1999-2001, and focuses its operation on poverty reduction, post-conflict rehabilitation, economic reform, and institutional building. Specifically, the CAS addresses the following issues: (i) improving agricultural productivity through farm restructuring and investing in rural infrastructure; (ii) reducing inefficiency by privatization; (iii) improving coverage, access, and quality of social services; (iv) targeting assistance to the poorest groups; and (v) enhancing institutional capacity. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) contributed $16.34 million as of end-June 2000.

67. As of 31 December 1998, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved five project loans equivalent to $17 million. A project loan for developing small and medium size enterprises (SME Credit Line Project) of $8.6 million was approved in December 1996 and a loan of $1.7 million to support a private food packaging company was approved in July 1997. In addition EBRD, utilizing a grant from the Netherlands, provided assistance to resurface the runway at Dushanbe Airport and conducted several technical cooperation projects to prepare investment projects in financial, gold mining, and telecommunications sectors. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) approved two loans totaling $12.5 million for a Cardio-Vascular Surgery Center ($3 million) and Schools Reconstruction ($9.5 million).

68. External assistance has consisted mainly of balance of payments support reflecting the country's severe economic difficulties. Of the $453.9 million total commitments by July 1998, balance of payments support accounted for nearly 50 percent of the total. Emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction and humanitarian relief accounted for a further 26 percent, while conventional development projects accounted for only 18 percent of total assistance. With the completion of the peace process, and as further macroeconomic stabilization is achieved and the economic recovery continues, more external resources are expected to shift from balance of payments support to conventional project assistance.

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