Gov’t on track to achieve EDPRS targets

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has reported impressive performance in the first year of implementing the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS). Reports indicate that the country is in the right path of achieving government’s development goals. In its latest annual report, the ministry said that despite the impact of the global financial crisis the economic cluster registered an impressive 78 percent target.The EDPRS is a comprehensive strategy for Rwanda’s development over the next five years. It is a roadmap towards the targets set out in the Rwandan Vision 2020 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).It sets out a number of key priorities that are vital Rwanda’s development. In the report, economic growth performance in 2008 was higher than the projected rate of 8.5 percent at 11.2 percent. “This growth was driven by a rebound in agriculture and continued buoyancy in the industry and services sectors which registered annual growth rates of 15, 10.7 and 7.9 percent respectively,” the reports reads in part. The ministry said that broad money increased moderately at 9.6 percent against an average increase of 25.7 percent (2005 to 2007), reflecting an increased absorption capacity of the economy and a rise in public spending. According to the report, currency in circulation increased by 28 percent compared to 20 percent in 2007 as a consequence of high inflation. The only target that was not met was the annual end of year average inflation which reached double figures at 15.4 percent compared to a single digit target that was set. The report also says that the acceleration in inflation arose from because of high international commodity prices and domestic pressures from rising prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages. “Despite high inflationary pressures throughout the year due to high international commodity prices and domestic pressures from rising prices of food prices, the report says that inflation showed signs of stabilizing towards the end of 2008, increasing by only 0.7 percent between September and December,” said the report. “Revenue from strategic exports reached $185 million, exceeding government’s projection of $163 million,” it added. The report also said that government efforts to attract investment in the country are paying off as investment achieved 18 percent performance of GDP exceeding the target of 17 percent that was set. Rwanda has become “one of the most active reformers of business regulation worldwide this decade” according to a recent World Bank Doing Business report. The score on investor perceptions of investment climate showed an average rating of 79 percent, reflecting improvements through the doing business reforms. Rwanda was ranked 139th in the World Bank Doing Business report and was the top-third of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. However, the report indicates tha, “Increases in investment in recent years have been driven by a rapid increase in public construction expenditure, with private expenditure on machinery still suffering low growth.” According to the report key challenges faced are in mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis, controlling inflation, strengthening of monitoring and evaluation systems and ensuring completion of policy actions partially achieved. Ends

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Gov’t on track to achieve EDPRS targets