Aziz Rodwal

USAID Economic Growth and Governance Initiative (EGGI)

The Economic Growth and Governance Initiative (EGGI) was awarded on August 15, 2009, to Bearing Point/Deloitte to strengthen the Government of Afghanistan's capacity to develop and implement economic and regulatory policy, and improve the enabling environment for the private sector to flourish. This will be accomplished through support for economic cabinet-level decision making and enabling environment reforms in key provincial economic centers; strengthened financial sector regulatory capacity and increased access to financial services; enhanced public-private dialogue to prioritize and implement key reforms that will enable Afghanistan's private sector to generate jobs, investment, and broad-based economic growth. As a whole, it will address many of the constraints to the ease of doing business outlined in the 2009 World Bank Doing Business Report. The program will support ministries in Kabul and implementation in the provinces through four primary components: 1. National and Regional Economic Policy: EGGI will provide advisory support to the Minister of Finance, Chief Economic Advisor to the President (CEAP), and other senior officials involved in economic policy issues and willing to serve as "Champions" for private-sector economic reforms. The program will support macroeconomic analysis and forecasting, compliance with IMF benchmarks, rationalization of non-tax revenues, support for ANDS implementation, support for economic strategies and investment decisions at Regional Commands (RCs) (see component 4) to foster improved economic policy planning and implementation at the national and regional levels. 2. Financial Sector Strengthening 3. Business Enabling Environment 4. Sub-national Implementation & Civ-Mil Acceleration