Overall, the extent to which the Bank Group program met its relevant objectives is rated moderately satisfactory. The overall rating is based on a synthesis of pillar-level ratings (appendix A, table A.1), with greater weight given to the rating for pillar 1, where lending was concentrated during the evaluation period. The rating recognizes certain positive features of program design and implementation. These included the agility with which the Bank Group responded to macrofinancial shocks, working closely with a newly elected government to help define and implement a robust policy agenda. Regarding Albania’s EU accession goal, the Bank Group played a supportive role while keeping its program firmly rooted in the institution’s goals of reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. The Bank Group contributed to the regional integration agenda through several of its ASA and lending tasks. It deployed ASA strategically, making valuable contributions to government policy making and reform implementation.

Desirable adjustments to the Bank Group program include emphasis on improving portfolio implementation and greater selectivity in new IPF operations. Table 4.1 sets out the links among selected CPE findings, lessons drawn, and suggestions. The Bank Group’s strategy and program have been broadly appropriate, but some shortcomings were identified: The program may have been insufficiently selective given implementation capacity, political absorptive capacity, and governance considerations; the design of IPF operations was either too complex or did not sufficiently anticipate and mitigate impediments to implementation stemming from weak capacity and political economy factors. Adjustments in two directions would be desirable. First, in sectors and thematic areas where the Bank Group engages, it should use its ASA to define and encourage public debate about the policy reform agenda. Second, the Bank Group should redouble recent efforts to strengthen portfolio implementation, deploying new investment lending selectively and ensuring that efforts are made to proactively mitigate capacity and political economy constraints either as part of project design or through parallel efforts. Given the essential role of household survey data availability, the Bank Group is advised to encourage authorities to ensure that publication of future survey round results occurs regularly and on time.