Catalog

ADB'S Governance Assessments

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has completed governance assessments of four countries and is finalizing studies in three other countries, ADB's senior public administration specialist, Clay Wescott, told the Asia and Pacific Forum on Poverty. Governance assessments have been finished for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam and are close to completion for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. A governance assessment examines the strength of a government's commitment to good governance, including sound macroeconomic and financial management, participatory and pro-poor economic policies, effective delivery of public services, and enforcement of contractual and property rights. Good governance ensures the transparent use of public funds, encourages growth of the private sector, promotes effective delivery of public services, and helps to establish the rule of law. Since the poor depend heavily on basic services in the public sector—such as basic health and education—weak governance affects them the most. Mr. Wescott said donors are using a dual approach to encourage countries to improve governance, which is one of the three pillars of ADB's poverty reduction strategy. From next year, ADB is using governance assessments to rate country performance, and these ratings will determine its allocation of concessional loan funds. This should be a powerful incentive to improve governance performance in a country like Cambodia, where international donor assistance is equivalent to 14 percent of GDP.

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