The World Bank on Wednesday stressed the need for domestic political consensus for sustained policy reforms, saying it may prove to be a failure if implemented without an open debate.
"Policy reforms that stood the test of time were implemented after domestic political consensus," Shanthayanan Devarajan, chief economist (South Asia region), World Bank and director, World Development Report, 2004, said.
Speaking at a two-day seminar in Chennai on 'Accelerating growth with equity -- the Tamil Nadu perspective', Devarajan said an open and transparent debate was imperative for policy reforms to succeed in under developed and developing economies.
Admitting that it took a long time for the World Bank to realise the importance of a political consensus, he said all stakeholders should be taken into confidence before any reform steps.
"An open debate helps in taking key decisions," Devarajan said.
In countries like Uganda, the policy reforms had proved to be a total failure, as it was tried to be implemented without proper consensus and transparency, he pointed out.
Stating that the World Bank's role would be limited to providing 'knowledge assistance' in priority areas, he said it was up to the stakeholders concerned in the countries to prioritise these areas.
The World Bank would assist only in promoting the creation of knowledge which forms the basis for the debate, the World Bank economist said.
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