Guyana's Poverty Reduction Strategy and Social Expenditure

Abstract

In 1997, Guyana started to receive debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. In 2001, to qualify for the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, Guyana developed a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) that committed the country to a reorientation of its economic and social policies towards the objectives of the PRS and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Against this background, this article examines whether the HIPC initiatives and the accompanying PRS have translated into increases in the level and quality of social expenditure. We find that there has been a substantial increase in social spending since 1997. In terms of quality of expenditure, our analysis suggests that without further strengthening of institutions responsible for managing and monitoring public expenditure, debt relief is unlikely to provide more than temporary succour. En 1997, la Guyane est devenue beneficiaire d′un allegement de ses dettes dans le cadre de l′initiative PPTE. En 2001, afin de pouvoir beneficier de l′initiative PPTE renforcee, la Guyane elabora une Strategie de Reduction de la Pauvrete (SRP) engageant le pays a mettre en œuvre une reorientation de ses politiques economiques et sociales au service des Objectifs du Millenaire pour le developpement et de la reduction de la pauvrete. Le but de cet article est de determiner si les initiatives PPTE et la SRP qui les a accompagnees, se sont traduites par des augmentations quantitative et qualitative des depenses sociales. Nous constatons que les depenses sociales ont augmente substantiellement depuis 1997. Par contre, notre analyse suggere qu’en ce qui concerne la qualite des depenses, si les institutions chargees de gerer et de controler les depenses publiques ne sont pas renforcees davantage, l′allegement de la dette risque de ne procurer qu′un soulagement temporaire.