Project Information Document (Appraisal Stage) - Electricity Supply Accountability and Reliability Improvement Project - P133446

Still, growth in the non-gold economy has been robust, with growth rates in the range of five to six percent in the last three years, while the bottom 40 percent of the population appears to benefit more from growth; the consumption of the bottom 40 percent of the population increased by 5.8 percent during 2006-2011 compared to a 2.5 percent growth rate of consumption of the mean. [...] The budget deficit averaged above 4.5 percent of GDP during 2009-2013, one of the highest in the ECA region, as the authorities attempted to offset the effects of volatile growth. [...] Improving governance and enhancing transparency and accountability in the public sector are strongly demanded by the general public and are at the heart of the National Sustainable Development Strategy 2013-17 (NSDS) of the Government. [...] Given the significant role of the energy (particularly power) sector in the Kyrgyz economy, improving the management in energy enterprises and enhancing transparency of their activities is a key reform area under the NSDS. [...] Page 3 of 7 Public Disclosure Copy Public Disclosure Copy Poor sector governance: Underlying the sector challenges are the weak governance of the sector and the lack of transparency and accountability in its operations.