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Social Science > Poverty and Homelessness

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Ghana: Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper presents Ghana’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy. The vision of the Agenda For Jobs II (2022–2025) is to create an optimistic, self-confident and prosperous nation, through the creative exploitation of our human and natural resources, and operating within a democratic, open and fair society in which mutual trust and economic opportunities exist for all. The Services sector continues to contribute the highest share of gross domestic product (GDP) despite its decline and varied performance of 47.9 percent in 2020, 48.2 percent in 2019 and 47.0 percent in 2018. Industry’s share of GDP decreased from 33.5 percent in 2018 to 33.2 percent in 2019 and 31.6 percent in 2020. Agriculture’s contribution to GDP increased to 20.5 percent in 2020 from 19.5 percent in 2018 and 18.5 percent in 2019. Key challenges requiring attention include the proliferation of slums due to increased rural–urban migration; poor sanitation and noise pollution; weak enforcement of environmental and mining laws and regulations leading to increased illegal mining, forest degradation and water pollution.
Keywords:
Ghana learning radio programme; infrastructure gap; value chain; Ghana export promotion authority; Ghana football association; Infrastructure; West Africa; Global; Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Congo: Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper on Republic of Congo focuses on poverty reduction and growth strategy. The diagnostic analysis of the socio-economic situation shows that the Congo still faces many challenges. It is recommended to strengthen the quality, capacities, and efficiency of the system, and manage human resources rationally and efficiently in all their components. Focus the national development plan’s (NDP) actions on the economy to make it stronger, and thus give the State more consistent means of action to meet the main national challenges. The implementation of the six strategic pillars of the NDP mentioned above should enable the State to have the necessary resources for the development of education, health, social protection, and basic social services infrastructure. The impact of this involvement is based on a correlation between the expected effects on the social dividend and the actual achievement of the targets for each Sustainable Development Goal.
Keywords:
poverty rate; NDP financing plan; NDP scenario; NDP project; NDP objective; Infrastructure; Global; Central Africa; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover Selected Issues Papers
The Efficiency of Social Spending in Niger: Niger
Jean-Marc B. Atsebi
and
Mrs. Paola Ganum
Despite some progress, poverty remains elevated and education and health outcomes are lagging. This paper finds evidence of inefficiencies in education, health, and social protection spending in Niger. Programs are typically not well-targeted, some are regressive, and there are significant coverage gaps. Improving the living standards of the Nigerien as well as education and health systems, a priority of the government, would require not only scaling up social spending but also strenghtening social protection programs through better targeting, supporting girls’ education, and moving away from general subsidies. Moreover, social assistance should focus more on enhancing productivity and resilience to shocks.
Keywords:
Social Spending; Efficiency; Education; Health; Social Protection; Niger; health outcome; health system; copyright page; SPL program; Education spending; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Social Spending in Mexico: Needs, Priorities and Reforms
Mrs. Swarnali A Hannan
,
Juan Pablo Cuesta Aguirre
, and
David Bartolini
Poverty in Mexico was high before the COVID-19 pandemic and has been exacerbated by the pandemic, with significant variation across states. Education losses from the pandemic are likely to be large and worsen pre-existing disparities; unless mitigated soon, they could contribute to heightened scarring over the medium term. Using state-level and cross-country comparisons, this paper reviews key social programs as well as priorities in education and health. It finds that higher spending and improved design of social programs (e.g., better targeting) would reduce socioeconomic gaps, mitigate scarring risks, and foster inclusive growth.
Keywords:
social programs; health; education; sustainable development goals; scarring effect; losses from the pandemic; pre-existing disparity; government program; scarring risk; COVID-19; Income; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Recoveries After Pandemics: The Role of Policies and Structural Features
Juan Pablo Cuesta Aguirre
and
Mrs. Swarnali A Hannan
To shed light on the possible scarring effects from Covid-19, this paper studies the economic effects of five past pandemics using local projections on a sample of fifty-five countries over 1990-2019. The findings reveal that pandemics have detrimental medium-term effects on output, unemployment, poverty, and inequality. However, policies can go a long way toward alleviating suffering and fostering an inclusive recovery. The adverse output effects are limited for countries that provided relatively greater fiscal support. The increases in unemployment, poverty, and inequality are likewise lower for countries with relatively greater fiscal support and relatively stronger initial conditions (as defined by higher formality, family benefits, and health spending per capita).
Keywords:
pandemics; output; unemployment; poverty; inequality; fiscal support; informality; social expenditure; health expenditure.; increases in unemployment; copyright page; potential GDP; group four; expenditure group; COVID-19; Income inequality; Health care spending; Maternity and childcare benefit spending; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Sudan: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-Joint Staff Advisory Note
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) reviews the Sudan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for the period 2021–2023. The PRSP was prepared by the Government of Sudan, drawing on lessons learned from the implementation of the 2012 interim poverty reduction strategy paper (I-PRSP).1 The PRSP was approved by the Council of Ministers on May 11, 2021. The government submitted the PRSP to IDA and the IMF on May 12, 2021 to fulfill the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative’s poverty reduction strategy requirement.
Keywords:
member country's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; copyright page; objective of the JSAN; advisory note; government ministry; Poverty reduction strategy; Poverty reduction; Poverty reduction and development; Africa; Global
Cover Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Pandemic Persistence Clouds the Recovery
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.

Abstract

The pandemic continues to spread in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but economic activity is picking up. After a deep contraction in April, activity started recovering in May, as lockdowns were gradually eased, consumers and firms adapted to social distancing, some countries introduced sizable policy support, and global activity strengthened.

Keywords:
pandemic; lockdowns; recovery; reopening; public health; REO; IMF staff calculation; nominal GDP; trading partner; world bank LAC estimate; hard currency; potential GDP; banking sector; fiscal policy; COVID-19; Debt restructuring; Securities markets; Caribbean; Global; Central America
Cover IMF Working Papers
Gross National Happiness and Macroeconomic Indicators in the Kingdom of Bhutan
Sriram Balasubramanian
and
Mr. Paul Cashin
This paper examines the origins and use of the concept of Gross National Happiness (or subjective well-being) in the Kingdom of Bhutan, and the relationship between measured well-being and macroeconomic indicators. While there are only a few national surveys of Gross National Happiness in Bhutan, the concept has been used to guide public policymaking for the country’s various Five-Year Plans. Consistent with the Easterlin Paradox, available evidence indicates that Bhutan’s rapid increase in national income is only weakly associated with increases in measured levels of well-being. It will be important for Bhutan to undertake more frequent Gross National Happiness surveys and evaluations, to better build evidence for comovement of well-being and macroeconomic concepts such as real national income.
Keywords:
WP; Bhutan; real GDP; GNH survey; GNH framework; indicator; real income; gross national happiness; gross domestic product; GNH index; GNH objective; GNH indicator; GNH policy; GNH tool; Income; Housing; Poverty reduction; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Burkina Faso: Economic Development Documents
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper discusses various economic development documents of Burkina Faso. Economic Development Documents are prepared by member countries in broad consultation with stakeholders and development partners. They describe countries’ macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in support of growth and poverty reduction, as well as associated external financing needs and major sources of financing. The aim of the 2016–2020 National Plan for Economic and Social Development (PNDES) is to structurally transform the Burkinabè economy to generate strong, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive growth in order to create decent jobs for all and improve social well-being. As a national benchmark, the plan aims to achieve cumulative growth of per capita income to reduce poverty and meet the population’s basic needs within a fair and sustainable social framework. During the entire PNDES implementation phase, measures will be taken to improve the quality of institutions and strengthen the governance and the availability of qualified human resources to meet the economy’s structural transformation needs.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; PNDES; economic growth; PNDES implementation guidelines principle; population age structure; rate; PNDES strategy; PNDES implementation mechanism; PNDES document; poverty rate; human resources; PNDES result; PNDES hinge; Human capital; West Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Togo: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper highlights that Togo’s Strategy for Boosting Growth and Promoting Employment offers a medium-term development framework for implementing the Government’s General Policy Statement, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Government’s vision for making Togo an emerging economy in 15 to 20 years, as well as making it a country that respects human rights and promotes the rule of law. The return of political stability and peace to the country created a favorable environment for better governance, resumption of international assistance, and significant reduction in exterior public debt. The Government’s medium-term economic policy for 2013–2017 will essentially be used to build and consolidate the foundations for Togo’s future economic emergence. The focus will be on new priorities: boosting growth; employment and inclusion; strengthening governance; and reducing regional disparities and promoting grassroots development. Designing a national land-use plan will territorialize development by creating a more balanced national economic space. The new land-use scheme will be based on dynamic, competitive, regional economies in which the urbanization of regional capitals and secondary towns is sufficiently controlled to allow true development hubs to emerge.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; private sector; natural resources; business plan; public works; economic growth; financial support; primary sector; West Africa; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa