CAS Historical Overview

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Adaptable Program Loans (APLs)Emerging Findings
Operations Policy and Country Services June 18,
2002
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Contents

• When to Use APLs
• Facts and Figures
• Emerging Findings
• Outlook

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When to Use APLs

• When there is a long-term vision of sector reform
  (buy-in from relevant stakeholders)rationale in
  PER
• When there is upfront agreement on the policy
  framework and triggersrisk management aspects
• When there is a need for donor coordination under
  a common strategy

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Facts and Figures

• 112 APLs for 5 billion, or 9 of Bank volumes
• APLs avg. 10 years compared to 6 years for others
• APLs avg. 2-3 phases of 3-4 years each
• APLs avg. 100 mil. per program 40 mil. per
  phase

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Facts and Figures

• APLs under implementation
• Sectoral share

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Finding APLs by Type
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Findings PER Work in APLs

• 88 of APLs approved fell within an IMF program
  or Bank adjustment program underpinning
  macro/fiscal policy
• 84 of APLs had the necessary policy framework in
  place
• 62 of APLs are underpinned by recent PER

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Findings Triggers

• Triggers are mostly of the input/output type, but
  also of institutional/capacity building and
  policy reformsmixed approach
• too much emphasis on output indicators says too
  little about progress on institutional/policy
  reforms
• too much emphasis on institutional/policy reforms
  does not say whether reforms are working in
  practice

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Findings Triggers

• Triggers are based on tangible and concrete
  performance targets essential for the success of
  the program
• More specificity in triggers helps guide
  implementation and discourage unambiguous
  monitoring results
• Triggers more specific in higher performing
  countries

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Findings ME

• 25 of APLs had the necessary ME systems in
  place at the outset of the program (e.g., like
  having the software but not the hardware to run
  the program). Most of these were sector-wide
  APLs.
• 40 of APLs had the necessary baseline
  information at the outset of the program.
• 50 of APLs incorporated ME in management
  decision makingmixed record on accountability

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Findings ME

• 80 percent of APLs had performance indicators
  consistent with the APL program and trigger
  strategy
• Selectivity of performance indicators important
  for triggers (most triggers are drawn from
  performance indicators and in some cases they are
  the same)
• APLs forces task manager to think ahead about
  triggers and performance indicatorstheir
  progressive sequencing in time and how they link
  the different phases to the long-term development
  program.

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Findings ME

• New approaches are emerging in some APLs
• Donors and borrowers are beginning to assess
  performance based on outcome and results at the
  program levelbeyond the project leveland this
  is happening particularly in some sector wide
  APLs
• But still early to tellnot that many second
  phase APLs around

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Findings Why not many second phase APLs
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When to Use APLs

• When there is a long-term vision of sector reform
  (buy-in from relevant stakeholders)rationale in
  PER
• When there is upfront agreement on the policy
  framework and triggersrisk management aspects
• When there is a need for donor coordination under
  a common strategy

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Outlook

• Outlook for APLs
• APLs here to stay-- will continue growing
• We continue to learning
• So far, APLs being used as intended to support
  the implementation of long-term development
  programs.
• Adaptable Lending Third Review of Experience
  (forthcoming).