Policy based instruments, such as general budget support, are funds that are channelled directly to the partner government’s general treasury account and subject to the country’s own systems for public financial management. This evaluation examined the application of policy based lending (PBL) instruments used by the African Development Bank (AfDB) over the period 1999-2009.

Mokoro joined an OPM-led team for this evaluation, the overarching objective of which was to examine the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the PBL instrument. During this time, the design and implementation of PBLs evolved from largely single-donor operations to joint multi-donor operations that made greater use of country systems.  The evaluation considered the context and examined the contribution made by the Bank in specific country cases.

Country case studies included Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Morocco. The evaluation covered all types of PBL provided by the Bank to a range of regional member countries including middle income, low income and fragile states.  The focus was on the Bank’s own internal processes for the design and the delivery of PBL instruments and how these translate into decisions in practice about the use and design of PBL in different country settings.