[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 164 (Monday, August 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50704-50706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20045]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
[MCC FR 14-05]
Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge
Account Eligibility in Fiscal Year 2015 and Countries That Would Be
Candidates But for Legal Prohibitions
AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Section 608(d) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003
requires the Millennium Challenge Corporation to publish a report that
identifies countries that are ``candidate countries'' for Millennium
Challenge Account assistance during FY 2015. The report is set forth in
full below.
Dated: August 19, 2014.
Thomas G. Hohenthaner,
Acting VP/General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Millennium Challenge
Corporation.
Report on Countries That Are Candidates for Millennium Challenge
Account Eligibility for Fiscal Year 2015 and Countries That Would Be
Candidates but for Legal Prohibitions
Summary
This report to Congress is provided in accordance with section
608(a) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, 22 U.S.C.
7701, 7707(a) (the Act).
The Act authorizes the provision of Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA) assistance for countries that enter into a Millennium Challenge
Compact with the United States to support policies and programs that
advance the progress of such countries to achieve lasting economic
growth and poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) to take a number of steps in selecting countries with
which MCC will seek to enter into a compact, including determining the
countries that will be eligible for MCA assistance for fiscal year (FY)
2015 based on (a) a country's demonstrated commitment to (i) just and
democratic governance, (ii) economic freedom, and (iii) investments in
its people; and (b) considering the opportunity to reduce poverty and
generate economic growth in the country; and (c) the availability of
funds to MCC. These steps include the submission of reports to the
congressional committees specified in the Act and the publication of
notices in the Federal Register that identify:
The countries that are ``candidate countries'' for MCA assistance
for FY 2015 based on their per capita income levels and their
eligibility to receive assistance under U.S. law and countries that
would be candidate countries but for specified legal prohibitions on
assistance (section 608(a) of the Act);
The criteria and methodology that the MCC Board of Directors
(Board) will use to measure and evaluate the relative policy
performance of the ``candidate countries'' consistent with the
requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 607 of the Act in
order to determine ``eligible countries'' from among the ``candidate
countries'' (section 608(b) of the Act); and
The list of countries determined by the Board to be ``eligible
countries'' for FY 2015, identification of such countries with which
the Board will seek to enter into compacts, and a justification for
such eligibility determination and selection for compact negotiation
(section 608(d) of the Act).
This report is the first of three required reports listed above.
Candidate Countries for FY 2015
The Act requires the identification of all countries that are
candidates for MCA assistance for FY 2015 and the identification of all
countries that would be candidate countries but for specified legal
prohibitions on assistance. Under the terms of the Act, sections 606(a)
and (b) set forth the two income tests countries must satisfy to be
candidates for MCA assistance.\1\ However for FY 2014, those categories
are defined by MCC's FY 2014 appropriations act, the Department of
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
2014, Public Law 113-76, Div. K (the FY 2014 SFOAA). Specifically, the
FY 2014 SFOAA used the same definitions that have been used since the
FY 2012 appropriations act and defines low income candidate countries
as the 75 poorest countries as identified by the World Bank and
provided that a country that changes during the fiscal year from low
income to lower middle income (or vice versa) will retain its candidacy
status in its former income category for the fiscal year and two
subsequent fiscal years. Assuming these definitions will be used again
in FY 2015, MCC is using them for purposes of this report.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Sections 606(a) and (b) of the Act provide that a country
will be a candidate for MCA assistance if it (1) has a per capita
income equal to or less than the historical ceiling of the
International Development Association eligibility for the fiscal
year involved (the ``low income category'') or (2) is classified as
a lower middle income country in the then most recent edition of the
World Development Report for Reconstruction and Development
published by the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and has an income greater than the historical ceiling
for International Development Association eligibility for the fiscal
year involved (the ``lower middle income category''); and is not
ineligible to receive U.S. economic assistance under part I of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the Foreign Assistance
Act), by reason of the application of the Foreign Assistance Act or
any other provision of law.
\2\ If the language relating to the definition of low income
candidate countries is not enacted or is changed for MCC's FY 2015
appropriations act, MCC will revisit the selection process once the
FY 2015 appropriations act is enacted and will conduct the selection
process in accordance with the Act and applicable provisions for FY
2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the redefined categories, a country will be a candidate for
MCA assistance for FY 2015 if it:
Meets one of the following tests:
Has a per capita income that is not greater than the World Bank's
lower middle income country threshold for such fiscal year ($4,125 GNI
per capita for FY 2015); and is among the 75
[[Page 50705]]
lowest per capita income countries, as identified by the World Bank; or
Has a per capita income that is not greater than the World Bank's
lower middle income country threshold for such fiscal year ($4,125 GNI
per capita for FY 2015); but is not among the 75 lowest per capita
income countries as identified by the World Bank;
And
Is not ineligible to receive U.S. economic assistance under part I
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the Foreign
Assistance Act), by reason of the application of the Foreign Assistance
Act or any other provision of law.
Due to the provisions requiring countries to retain their former
income classification for three fiscal years, changes from the low
income to lower middle income categories or vice versa for FY 2015 will
go into effect for FY 2018. Countries transitioning to the upper middle
income category do not retain their former income classification.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ In FY 2014, the World Bank revised its estimates for Iraq's
gross domestic product per capita and more than doubled its previous
estimate. This caused Iraq to transition from a low income country
to an upper middle income country without the benefit of gradual
reclassification. The removal of Iraq from the both the low income
and lower middle income categories means that, as a result, there
are only 74 low income countries for FY 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursuant to section 606(c) of the Act, the Board identified the
following countries as candidate countries under the Act for FY 2015.
In so doing, the Board referred to the prohibitions on assistance to
countries for FY 2014 under the FY 2014 SFOAA.
Candidate Countries: Low Income Category
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Republic of the
Cote d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt \4\
Ethiopia
Gambia, The
Georgia
Ghana
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Kenya
Kiribati
Kyrgyz Republic
Laos
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Micronesia
Moldova
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Timor-Leste
Togo
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ MCA assistance to Egypt would be provided to the extent it
is deemed to be consistent with the law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidate Countries: Lower Middle Income Category
Armenia
Cabo Verde
El Salvador
Guyana
Kosovo
Morocco
Paraguay
Samoa
Ukraine
Countries That Would Be Candidate Countries but for Legal Provisions
That Prohibit Assistance
Countries that would be considered candidate countries for FY 2015
but are ineligible to receive United States economic assistance under
part I of the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of the application of
any provision of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of
law are listed below. This list is based on legal prohibitions against
economic assistance that apply as of July 22, 2014.
Prohibited Countries: Low Income Category
Bolivia is subject to foreign assistance restrictions pursuant to
section 706(3) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 2003 (Pub.
L. 107-228), relating to international drug control certification
procedures.
Burma is subject to foreign assistance restrictions, including
restrictions pursuant to section 570 of the FY 1997 Foreign Operations,
Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 104-
208) which prohibits assistance to the government of Burma until it
makes measurable and substantial progress in improving human rights
practices and implementing democratic governance.
Cambodia is subject to foreign assistance restrictions pursuant to
section 7043(c)(2) of the SFOAA, which prohibits assistance to the
central government of Cambodia unless the Secretary of State makes
certain certifications relating the government of Cambodia's
investigation into recent parliamentary elections in Cambodia.
Eritrea is subject to foreign assistance restrictions, including
restrictions due to its status as a Tier III country under the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended, 22U.S.C. 7101
et seq.
North Korea is subject to foreign assistance restrictions,
including restrictions pursuant to section 7007 of the SFOAA, which
prohibits direct assistance to the government of North Korea.
Sudan is subject to foreign assistance restrictions, including
restrictions pursuant to section 7042(j) of the SFOAA, which prohibits
assistance to the government of Sudan.
Syria is subject to foreign assistance restrictions, including
restrictions pursuant to section 7007 of the SFOAA, which prohibits
direct assistance to the government of Syria.
Zimbabwe is subject to foreign assistance restrictions, including
restrictions pursuant to section 7042(n) of the SFOAA, which prohibits
assistance (except for health and education, and macroeconomic growth
assistance) for the central government of Zimbabwe unless the Secretary
of State determines that the government of Zimbabwe is implementing
transparent fiscal policies, including public disclosure of revenues
from the extraction of natural resources.
Countries identified above as candidate countries, as well as
countries that would be considered candidate
[[Page 50706]]
countries but for the applicability of legal provisions that prohibit
U.S. economic assistance, may be the subject of future statutory
restrictions or determinations, or changed country circumstances, that
affect their legal eligibility for assistance under part I of the
Foreign Assistance Act by reason of application of the Foreign
Assistance Act or any other provision of law for FY 2015.
[FR Doc. 2014-20045 Filed 8-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P