New Harvard Course – Getting the Most from PFM Reform

Posted by Matt Andrews, Harvard Kennedy School

The posts on this blog are a continuous reminder that the PFM reform community has come a long way. We have a lot of great ideas and potential interventions that could have significant and lasting impact on governments across the globe. The posts are also a reminder of how limited many reforms are, and how difficult it is to get the functionality we so desire from PFM systems we are working to improve. 

In working through some of these difficulties, posts on this blog have referenced many common problems, raising questions about sequencing, fitting solutions to context, working around and within political constraints, managing capacity challenges, and the like. We are launching a new PFM course at the Harvard Kennedy School to tackle these kinds of questions. It runs from January 6–11, 2013 and will focus explicitly on how to do PFM reforms. 

The course will tackle the thorny issue of how PFM reforms can be most effectively introduced. These include: Who needs to be involved? How should the reforms be packaged? What should the sequence look like? Where lessons can be learned, and how?

If you or anyone you know are interested in getting more from PFM reforms, we would love to have you join the course. If you are not able to join, Matt Andrews and the rest of the faculty would welcome any ideas of topics or substance you think should be addressed in such a course. He is available at matt_andrews@hks.harvard.edu. Course details are available here. 

Note: The posts on the IMF PFM Blog should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. 

Comments

[Ahrainey]

You can also get some great public finance courses from th Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) or the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) of the Association of Budget and Policy Analysts (AABPA
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