Mali; First Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Request for Waiver of Nonobservance Performance Criteria—Staff Report; Staff Statement; Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Mali

This paper focuses on Mali’s First Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Request for Waiver of Nonobservance Performance Criteria. Program implementation in 2004 was mixed. The authorities stuck to their fiscal program, meeting all targets and indicators through end-September, despite some revenue and financing shortfalls. However, progress on structural reforms, particularly privatization, has been disappointing. The authorities request waivers for three structural performance criteria on the basis of corrective actions concerning privatization policies in the cotton, telecommunications, and banking sectors.