Chile Country Assistance Strategy

The Country Assistance Strategy for Chile is the detailed report on the World Bank's priority areas to assist countries with their own development programs.  It describes all of the World Bank's planned operations in Chile: lending, studies and other technical assistance. Currently, the Bank has a new Country Partnership Strategy with Chile for 2007-2010, with the aim to support Chile’s goal of convergence with OECD income levels and living standards through faster growth and greater equality of opportunity.  The CPS has been developed to meet the changing needs of a highly successful, globally integrated middle income country (MIC) committed to both growth and social equity.

More general information about  Country Assistance Strategies

The evaluation of the Bank's assistance strategy for Chile from 1985 to 1989 finds the program outcome highly satisfactory. Bank assistance supported substantial institutional development and comprehensive reforms. Its development impact consisted of supporting policies that created conditions for faster growth and lowering poverty. The institutional change that the assistance supported promoted private sector development and better governance, financial accountability and financial management. The Bank also contributed to improve water resource management and better gender outcomes.

Chile Country Assistance Evaluation  (292K PDF)

Chile Country Assistance Strategy 2002-2006

The Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) (main document, 762K PDF)  provides an update on Chile's performance and its development strategy since the last CAS was prepared in 1995 and repositions the Bank Group for the future. Since 1995, when the last Country Assistance Strategy was prepared, the relationship between the Bank Group and the Republic of Chile has evolved. Over time, there have been shifts in the extent to which the Bank Group's financial and advisory services have been sought by Chile.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the agenda shifted from economic reforms to the social sectors, environment, rural poverty alleviation and institutional development. The focus changed again in the mid-1990s when the Government decided to reduce its external borrowing  from the international financial institutions. At the end of the 1990s, lending was renewed, adding technology and reinforcing support for education and local capacity building.

The International Finance Corporation's (IFC) experience mirrored that of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): as the Chilean private sector gained access to longer-term credit and sophisticated financial products, IFC became increasingly selective during the 1990s. This meant targeting activities where IFC would have a strong role and significant development impact, including greenfield projects, non-traditional industries, regional operations, second-tier companies and specialized financial transactions. IFC's involvement further narrowed so that there was no investment approval in FY98. In FY99, IFC resumed selective financing in response to the decline in growth and the Government's request for support in priority areas.

Today, faced with new challenges, Chile and the Bank Group are, once again, reevaluating needs and laying the basis for a changed relationship in the coming years. The relationship remains selective focusing on areas in which the Bank has a comparative advantage in drawing upon global knowledge, sustaining a policy dialogue, and exploiting synergies with other operations and past experiences. As outlined in the CAS, the program aims to support programs and activities which deepen and sustain Chile's efforts at poverty reduction with a mix of technical and financial support. Notably, in this time of heightened global and regional risks, slower growth, low commodity prices and reduced capital flows, the program includes the possibility to use the Bank's new Deferred Drawdown Option (DDO) instrument for risk management. IFC will continue its selective engagement in high impact, government priority areas to help the private sector weather this period and play a role in higher, sustained growth.

(Full text of CAS documents in PDF format to the top right side of this page)