Public Expenditure Review for Republic of Congo: Using Oil Wealth Effective to Accelerate and Diversify Growth

Congo faces a unique opportunity to meet its objective of reducing poverty and enhancing social outcomes by diversifying and expanding its economy.  It reached the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) completion point in January, 2010, opening new perspectives for management of its public sector.  The country has been receiving and will continue to receive large volumes of oil revenues over the coming years.  With the adoption of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in 2008, Congo has a solid and credible development strategy to guide allocation of resources and prioritization of reform actions.  However Congo’s needs are also large.  Achieving the government’s investment objectives in transport, energy, water supply and sanitation, and ICT will cost of $900 million a year for ten years and will require that resources are allocated efficiently, transparently, and in line with PRSP objectives.