The bank’s International Development Association last week approve a credit to help the island nation’s Ministry of Finance and Budget improve the efficiency of public finance management.

In particular, it will support work to strengthen financial reporting, improve payroll management and uphold the single Treasury account principle.

Gervais Rakotoarimanana, Madagascar’s minister of finance and budget, said: “We have a strong will to meet the challenges to strengthen the performance of the tax and customs administrations and to improve efficiency in the use of public funds.

“Our goal is to optimise the allocation of resources to sectors that have tangible impact on the population such as education, health, and infrastructure.”

Madagascar has improved it economic performance – growth in 2014 was 3.3%, up from 2.3% in 2013. However, a sustained political and constitutional crisis is holding up urgently needed fiscal reforms and hindering the country’s progress towards sustainable development.

The World Bank hopes the $55m credit will help Madagascar’s government improve the efficiency of public spending, publish audited state budget accounts and also disclose financial information relating to state-owned companies.

Coralie Gevers, World Bank country manager in Madagascar, said: “The Madagascar Systematic Country Diagnostic presented to the World Bank Board in August 2015 emphasized the importance of enlarging the fiscal space as a prerequisite, so that the government has the means to make public investments and implement policies such as the national strategies on social protection and on universal health coverage.”

In November, Madagascar received a $42m disbursement from the International Monetary Fund’s rapid credit facility to help it balance its books and the European Commission has also come forward with a development package.