Social Funds In Stabilization And Adjustment Programmes

Download or read book Social Funds in Stabilization and Adjustment Programmes written by Giovanni Andrea Cornia and published by Unu World Institute for Development Economics Research. This book was released on 1999 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Well before the introduction of adjustment-related Social Funds (SFs), many developing countries had developed a variety of safety nets comprising food subsidies, nutrition interventions, employment-based schemes and targeted transfers. Middle-income and a few low-income countries had also achieved extensive coverage in the field of social insurance. In countries committed to fighting poverty, these programmes absorbed considerable resources (2-5 per cent of GDP, excluding social insurance) and had a large impact on job creation, income support and nutrition: for instance, in 1983, Chile's public works programme absorbed 13 per cent of the labour force. Their ability to expand quickly depended on a permanent structure of experienced staff, good portfolios of projects, clear management rules, adequate allocation of domestic resources, supply-driven execution and, with the exception of food subsidies, fairly good targeting.