Macroeconomic policies affect both the rate of growth of the economy and the distribution of the benefits of growth across economic sectors and social groups. The process of structural change that is currently underway in many Asian countries adds new dimensions to the linkage between macroeconomic policies and poverty reduction. With these considerations in view as well as in the context of supporting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, UNDP's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific launched in early 2002 the Asia-Pacific Regional Programme on the Macroeconomics of Poverty Reduction.

The objective is to identify and promote more pro-poor macroeconomic policies in the region. With two-thirds of the world's poor living in the region such pro-poor approaches are critical to the process of poverty reduction. Fostering greater consistency between country's macroeconomic framework and its national poverty reduction strategy and broadening the policy options and dialogue on poverty reduction issues have been the pillars of the programme.