The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $5 million policy-based grant to help Samoa strengthen its fiscal resilience and improve Samoa’s macroeconomic stability. The grant is extended from its Asian Development Fund resources for subprogram one of the Samoa Fiscal Resilience Improvement Program.
“The Samoa Fiscal Resilience Improvement Program is policy-based, meaning the funds can be released as budget support once policy actions outlined in the program are successfully completed,” said ADB Senior Public Management Officer, Shiu Raj Singh. “Strengthened public sector management and better-performing SOEs will also allow for improved service delivery, which is essential to inclusive growth.”
Subprogram one’s outputs aim to cover a range of measures to strengthen fiscal resilience including reducing fiscal drain through state-owned enterprise reform, improving procurement systems and debt management, and promoting resilience to climate change. The program grant will also contribute positively to the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The full program is set to run from 2016 to 2018 and builds on previous policy-based support to help the government improve its fiscal position through policy and public enterprise reforms. It supports the government’s medium-term fiscal framework and is coordinated with Australia, European Union, New Zealand, and the World Bank.
