Get Ready for FY09 Selection!

With hugest of apologies, we had an error in our data sheet which changes the blog I posted yesterday on this year's passing countries. Please use this update and disregard yesterday's. Many thanks.The final piece of public country eligibility documentation that will inform this year's selection round -- the FY09 Country Performance Scorecards -- was released this week. The earlier preview we gave folks on how countries fared on the Control of Corruption hard-hurdle indicator is now rounded out with the full 17 indicator performance record.On December 11th, the Board will use these scorecards, and other supplementary information, to make its decision on which countries will be eligible to apply for FY09 MCC funding. And, as most of you know, we use this data as a key contribution to our own annual "predictions paper" to be released next week (see last year's here). A few teasers for folks:Lower Income Countries: 19 LICs pass the indicators test in FY2009, 2 for the first time --Indonesia and Zambia.Lower Middle Income Countries: 6 LMICs pass the test, 2 for the first time -- Bosnia Herzegovina and Macedonia.The Majority of Compact Countries Fail: 12 of the 18 countries with which MCC has approved or signed compacts do not pass the indicators test -- Armenia, Benin, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Georgia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua and Vanuatu. This is the third year in a row that Benin and Madagascar have failed the indicators test and the fourth year in a row for Cape Verde.A Likely Conservative Selection Round: Given the budget uncertainties, the need to keep a focus on implementation, and the fact that this is a presidential transition year, this year's selection round is likely to be very conservative.