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p. 7 of 30 BACK | NEXT Executive Summary I. The Setting II. Key Variables Affecting Project Quality A. The Approval Culture B. Ownership C. Quality of Macro and Sectoral Analyses D. Portfolio Management E. Institutional Capacity Assessment F. Beneficiary Involvement in Preparation and Implementation G. Evaluation of Risks/Sensitivity Analysis H. Clarity and Implementability of Project Design I. Role of the Bank in Project Administration J. Responsibility for Project Quality K. Major Themes in Project Quality Analysis III. Assessment of Current Bank Practices and Areas for Improvement IV. Findings, Recommendations and Action Plan V. Implications and Monitoring Arrangements

Report of the Task Force on Improving Project Quality : II. Key Variables Affecting Project Quality

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A. The Approval Culture

17. An important issue that has emerged from the analyses of the Task Force is the need for the Bank to reconcile its resource transfer and developmental objectives. Its resource transfer role is to transfer programmed amounts of financial resources annually to its DMCs. This sometimes translates into an emphasis on obtaining loan approvals as per the annual program. Related pressures are created during the project preparation and implementation processes, sometimes leading to compromises on project quality and on potential developmental impact. This phenomenon has been termed the "approval culture" in the Bank.

18. The approval and supply focus of Bank operations encourages inadequate attention to the precise nature of local needs, demands and absorptive capacities. The processing cycle sometimes gets compress d to meet deadlines. Project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA) fact-finding missions became too short; loan fact-finding missions begin even before the feasibility study (financed by the PPTA) is completed; and field visits during fact-finding and appraisal missions are not give enough time.

19. The Bank is as much accountable for the quality of its developmental assistance as for resource transfers, the dimensions of its impact and the efficiencies of its operations. If there is a demand for its services and investments, the Bank is encouraged to grow, and so growth targets are in order to assist in resource planning. However, pursuit of these targets at the expense of project quality must be avoided.

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