Country Strategy

Together, IDB staff and Ecuador determine how Ecuador’s priorities coincide with the Bank’s development strategies for the region. The product of that process is the IDB country strategy with Ecuador, containing the Bank’s expected program for Ecuador for 2008-2011.

Country strategies include an overview of the country’s current economic situation. They draw on analytical work conducted by the Bank and other parties on a wide range of economic and social sectors, such as rural and urban development, health, education, government modernization, transportation, trade, and the environment, among others.

Ecuador’s Operational Strategy

The IDB Country Strategy, which will apply to the 2008-2011 period, focuses on two priority areas:

1. Helping to lay the foundations for energizing the productive structure. To accomplish this objective the Bank will:

• Support the introduction of policies, an institutional framework that will boost productivity and competitiveness, and business development programs;
• Improve the productive infrastructure;
• Nurture market efficiency;
• Promote economic diversification.

2. Promoting social development and the protection of the most vulnerable. To accomplish this objective the IDB will focus on:

• Strengthening the social safety net;
• Improving social expenditures and the coverage and quality of government services;
• Promoting economic diversification.

As a cross-cutting element, the Bank will support institutional strengthening, with specific activities included in each project to improve the workings of government in the priority areas of the country strategy.