The overall objective of the US$25million credit, which closed in June 2000, was to support areform program aiming at: a) enhancing the competitivenessof the Burkinabe economy to substantially raise growth ratesover the medium term and alleviate poverty; b) improvingpublic finance management, particularly with regard to taxpolicy and the use of public resources; and c) completingthe third phase of the common external tariff (CET) adoptedby the west African Economic and Monetary Union (WAMEU).This Note discusses the impact on the ground and the lessonslearned from the project implementation.