What is a Systematic Country Diagnostic?
A Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) is a report produced by the World Bank for a partner country (usually every five years) that determines how a country can end poverty and boost shared prosperity, and the challenges that stand in the way of those twin goals. The SCD aims to identify the main economic development priorities of the country, including but not limited to those supported by the World Bank.
The report is prepared for the benefit of all interested stakeholders, including citizens, governments, private sector, non-governmental organizations, media, and other development partners. Consultations are crucial to ensuring the findings are relevant to each of these stakeholders.
Systematic Country Diagnostics for Moldova
The first comprehensive SCD for Moldova was prepared in 2016 and documented substantial improvements in living standards on the back of strong yet volatile economic growth, cut short however by the 2014/15 banking crisis. The 2021 SCD Update evaluates the progress made since the 2016 SCD and assesses whether the development constraints and priorities identified then remain relevant today.
As the 2021 SCD Update was prepared before the start of the war in Ukraine, it does not analyze the medium- and long-term effects of the war on Moldova’s development challenges. The SCD Update however stresses that Moldova’s near-term prospects will be adversely affected by the war.
2021 Systematic Country Diagnostic Update for Moldova: Main findings, priorities, and pathways
The 2021 Moldova SCD Update posits that most of the findings and recommendations from the 2016 SCD remain relevant today. Since 2016, the pace and type of growth have not translated into broad-based job creation, particularly in the tradable sector. Despite efforts and progress in a number of reform areas, the failure to address crucial structural challenges related to governance and institutional weaknesses, combined with Moldova’s vulnerability to external factors (chief among which stagnating or declining growth in partner economies and climate volatility), have hampered economic activity. In addition, large spatial gaps in access to opportunities persist, with rural dwellers having far worse access to key services and basic infrastructure, constraining their ability to accumulate human capital and access good jobs.
The SCD proposes five priorities and two pathways to gradually overcome these challenges, build back better from the COVID-19 shock and adapt to the consequences of climate change:
· Priority 1: Strengthening the rule of law and institutional capacity, including at the sectoral and subnational levels
· Priority 2: Strengthening resilience particularly to climate change
· Priority 3: Improving the business environment to enhance competitiveness
· Priority 4: Reorienting public finance to support a new growth model
· Priority 5: Improving resilience, efficiency and equity in service delivery
Achieving solid progress on the priorities will enable Moldova to navigate the two pathways towards sustained inclusive growth and poverty reduction: (i) Creating more and better jobs and (ii) Building human capital and ensuring equal opportunities.
We want to hear from you!
Help us make the Moldova SCD Update relevant and impactful! We welcome advice from all interested parties – both local and international – and would be especially grateful for responses to the following questions:
· What are the most important reform priorities for Moldova over the next five years?
· What do you see as the main challenges and obstacles to conducting these reforms?
· Are there any areas or issue that are NOT included in the priorities above, but which are nevertheless very important for Moldova’s economic development and prosperity?
· Are there any areas or issues that you think are not as important for the next five years?
Share your views till August 25, 2022. Let us know what you think by sending your comments or suggestions in Romanian, Russian, or English to the World Bank team at moldovacpf@worldbank.org. Please indicate Moldova SCD Online Consultations in the subject line of your message. Your responses will be analyzed as part of the ongoing online consultation process. Moreover, your responses will feed into the development of the new Country Partnership Framework with Moldova, its associated objectives and intended results. The CPF is currently under preparation and it is based on the SCD analysis.
