Political Interference and Infrastructure Governance

Posted by Taz Chaponda and Richard Allen[1]

Building large infrastructure is a very difficult undertaking, particularly in the public sector. A lot of things can go wrong during the life of a large project, leading to cost and time overruns and poor outcomes. One of the most intractable problems is political interference in infrastructure development. But how does one separate the purely political issues (that may be legitimate) from economic and technical aspects? And is corruption the core driver of poor outcomes or are there other governance issues at play?

Putting the ‘Public’ Back into Public Finance

Posted by Paolo de Renzio[1]

Few people ever stop to think about it, but government budgets affect our everyday lives in many different ways. Budget decisions – how a government taxes, borrows and spends – can have a deep impact on economic performance, income distribution and service delivery.

IMF’s PFM Course used for Joint Training in Mauritius

Posted by Robert Clifton and Naimabee Aubdoollah-Suhootoorah[1]

Public financial management (PFM) is a broad, multifaceted and complex terrain that can be quite daunting for a new analyst in a ministry of finance to fully comprehend. In addition to the technical underpinnings of PFM it is also necessary to develop a good understanding of both the theory and practice of public economics and political economy.

Fiscal Transparency: The Case of Tax Expenditures in Developing Countries

Posted by Mario Mansour [1]

In recent years, more developing countries have started reporting on their tax expenditures, however the quality of reporting needs to improve if it is to usefully contribute to fiscal transparency and the debate on domestic revenue mobilization.

Unlike in most advanced economies, where reporting on tax expenditures has been part of general fiscal reporting for decades, reporting on tax expenditures in developing countries started in the early part of the 2000s decade, primarily in Latin America. More recently, the practice has gained ground in other developing countries, including in Africa, where eight countries now report regularly on their tax expenditures (Kassim and Mansour, 2018).[2]

Tackling Corruption in Government

Posted by Vitor Gaspar, Paolo Mauro and Paulo Medas

Note that this article originally posted on the IMF blog

No country is immune to corruption. The abuse of public office for private gain erodes people’s trust in government and institutions, makes public policies less effective and fair, and siphons taxpayers’ money away from schools, roads, and hospitals.

While the wasted money is important, the cost is about much more. Corruption corrodes the government’s ability to help grow the economy in a way that benefits all citizens.

But the political will to build strong and transparent institutions can turn the tide against corruption. In our new Fiscal Monitor, we shine a light on fiscal institutions and policies, like tax administration or procurement practices, and show how they can fight corruption.

IMF Holds Seminar on Implementing Gender Responsive Budgeting In Central Africa

Posted by Gwénaëlle Suc and Abdoulaye Touré[1]

Gender inequalities and inequities remain pervasive in Central Africa. For example, in recent years, about 35 percent of girls graduated from high school in the region, against 45 percent of boys. And women earn on average 30 percent less than men. These inequities have a significant impact on growth and development. Studies show that an increase of one percent in the gender inequality index reduces the human development index by 0.75 percent.

Un séminaire du FMI pour mettre en œuvre la budgétisation sensible au genre en Afrique Centrale

Par Gwénaëlle Suc and Abdoulaye Touré[1]

Les inégalités et inéquités liées au genre demeurent très fortes en Afrique Centrale. Par exemple, sur la période récente, environ 35 % des filles achèvent un cursus d’enseignement secondaire dans la région contre 45 % des garçons. De plus, les femmes gagnent en moyenne 30 % de moins que les hommes. Ces inéquités ont des conséquences importantes sur la croissance et sur le développement. Les études montrent qu’une augmentation de 1 % de l’indice d’inégalité de genre se traduit par une réduction de l’indice de développement humain de 0,75 %.

Increasing Fiscal Transparency in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa

Posted by Bruno Imbert[1]

Fiscal Transparency has become a pressing topic in the international agenda over the past years. The sharp deterioration of the fiscal stance that accompanied the 2018 global economic crisis, and the related needs for fiscal adjustment, increased the incentives on Governments to have a comprehensive view of the true state of their public finances. It also revealed the necessity to improve the quality of fiscal information and the need to involve stakeholders outside the ministry of finance.

Renforcer la transparence budgétaire en Afrique francophone

Publié par Bruno Imbert[1]

La transparence budgétaire est devenue un sujet majeur au cours de la décennie passée. La détérioration rapide de la situation des finances publiques, à la suite de la crise économique mondiale de 2018, et les ajustements budgétaires qui en ont découlé, ont fait prendre conscience aux gouvernements de la nécessité de disposer d’une meilleure connaissance de leur situation budgétaire. La crise a aussi mis en lumière le besoin d’améliorer la qualité des informations budgétaires ainsi que la nécessité d’associer d’autres acteurs en dehors des ministères des finances.

How the PFM Act in Pakistan Could Fix Public Finances

Posted by Muhammad Afnan Alam[1]

The government of Pakistan has implemented a wide range of PFM reforms since the early 2000s. Their impact, however, has been mixed. Improvements in some areas—better informed financial statements, faster external audit scrutiny, introduction of an MTEF, for example—have had a limited impact on controlling the fiscal deficit or reducing the huge volume of off-budget spending. The implementation of an FMIS has not significantly increased the timeliness of financial data, the processing of payments, or more reliable control of government cash flows.