“The study comprises four substantive sections. The first section presents a general picture of macroeconomic and sectoral performance of the economy. The aim is to define the time pattern of growth in Burundi, by dividing the sample period into three subperiods, which correspond to two periods of decline and one period of growth. Sections two and three analyse the micro-economic processes underlying growth. Section two focuses on the role of goods and factor markets in explaining Burundi’s disappointing growth performance. Section three centres the discussion on firms and households, two agents whose potentially high contribution to growth has been frustrated by misguided government policies against private initiative. The fourth section discusses in more details the political economy of growth. It explains the economic objectives of political leaders and shows how they have used the system to satisfy narrow individual and group interests at the expense of society at large. It also attempts to explain why politicians behaved so irresponsibly. Section five concludes.”
