Chaos Empire Sits: COVID-19 and its Immediate PFM Challenges

Posted by Suhas Joshi[1]

“Chaos empire sits. And by decision more embroils the fray, by which he reigns; next him high arbiter chance governs all.”

John Milton’s words in his presciently named Paradise Lost resound in my ears as I walk along empty Bangkok roads looking for milk and eggs and, if the Gods are kind, some hand sanitizer or, as a last resort, I pray to Vishnu for some alcohol to use instead. As I return home with nothing, I wonder if the alcohol meant for my stomach could be used on my hands. That led me to think of the small businesses that have closed to meet the threat posed by COVID-19 and their unregistered employees. How indeed to help vulnerable sections of population in financial hardship in the developing world where the absence of good data and PFM systems makes this task even more difficult?

Préparer les systèmes de gestion des finances publiques à relever les défis du COVID-19

Posté par Sandeep Saxena et Michelle Stone [1], traduit par Matthieu Sarda et Khalid Alkassoum [2]

L'épidémie de COVID-19 mettra à l'épreuve les systèmes de gestion des finances publiques (GFP) de nombreuses manières, comme l'ont fait les précédentes urgences sanitaires liées à Ebola et au SRAS. Les défis à relever seront probablement principalement les suivants : (i) estimer et trouver des ressources budgétaires et financières supplémentaires ; (ii) assurer la disponibilité des fonds pour les unités de prestation de services et les décaisser efficacement en tenant dûment compte des contrôles ; (iii) suivre et comptabiliser les ressources déployées dans le cadre des interventions d'urgence et en rendre compte de manière transparente ; et (iv) assurer la continuité des activités en cas d'absence massive de personnel. La présente note décrit les mesures que les gouvernements peuvent prendre pour préparer et renforcer la capacité de leurs systèmes de gestion des finances publiques à relever ces défis. 

COVID-19—Rethinking Treasury Business Continuity Plans

Posted by Emre Balibek[1]

One after another, governments around the world are announcing policy responses to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions centered at the policy level are vital to design measures that support people, firms and sectors, mitigate the impact on incomes and jobs as much as possible, and avoid permanent damage. It is equally important that ministries of finance and state treasuries continue to operate effectively under these extreme circumstances so that policy measures can be implemented as planned.

French Experience with Stimulus Packages, 2008-2009

Posted by Claude Wendling[1]

The  most immediate emergency with the current COVID-19 crisis is to sustain a modicum of normal economic life in spite of very adverse circumstances, it can be expected that shortly attention will turn towards the best way to design and implement far-reaching and diversified stimulus packages to help economies gather momentum.

Integrating the SDGs into the Budget: the Experience of African Countries

Posted by Quentin Gouzien[1]

To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), it is essential that the State allocates enough budgetary resources towards the sectors contributing to their achievement, as underlined by a recent IMF study. As shown by the experience of the millennium development goals (MDG), the inclusion of the SDGs in long-term development plans is not enough. It must also be ensured that the State budget takes the SDGs into account.

Intégrer les ODD dans le budget: l’expérience des pays africains

Publié par Quentin Gouzien[1]

Pour atteindre les objectifs de Développement durables (ODD), il est nécessaire que l’Etat alloue des ressources budgétaires suffisantes dans les secteurs concourant à leur réalisation, comme le souligne une étude récente du FMI. Comme le montre l'expérience des objectifs millénaires pour le développement (OMD), la prise en compte des ODD dans les plans de développement à long terme n’est pas suffisante. Il faut également s’assurer que le budget de l’Etat prend les ODD en compte.

Modernizing Budget Practices in Odisha State

Posted by Lesley Fisher and John Grinyer[1]

Nestled in the east of India, Odisha State, with a population of 42 million and an economy of US$75 billion, is striving to catch up with the better-known States of Gujarat and Rajasthan.  India has a federal system of public administration, with around 53 percent of total spending undertaken by States. Over the decades an elaborate set of rules and procedures covering revenue sharing, expenditure limits and joint federal / State level policy initiatives have developed, consistent with rules defined by the Finance Commission[2] and the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.

In Defence of the Green Book: Don’t Blame the Tools

Posted by Simon Groom[1]

The United Kingdom’s Green Book[2] is often held up as an example of good practice when it comes to guidance on project appraisal. However, in recent months it has come in for criticism, mostly in relation to an alleged bias against projects in lagging regions of the United Kingdom[3]. These accusations are worth examining, both because of the light they shed on good practice in this area and because of what they tell us about the relationship between technical tools and decision-making.

Preparing Public Financial Management Systems to Meet Covid-19 Challenges

Posted by Sandeep Saxena and Michelle Stone [1]

The outbreak of Covid-19 will test public financial management (PFM) systems in many ways, as did previous health emergencies related to Ebola and SARS. The challenges are likely to come mainly from: (i) estimating and finding additional budgetary and financial resources; (ii) ensuring availability of funds to service delivery units and disbursing them efficiently with due regard to controls; (iii) tracking and accounting for resources deployed in emergency response and reporting it transparently; and (iv) ensuring business continuity when faced with large-scale absence of staff. This note outlines steps that governments can take to prepare and strengthen the capacity of their PFM systems to respond to these challenges.   

 

Fiscal Policies to Protect People During the Coronavirus Outbreak

By Vitor Gaspar and Paolo Mauro

A key role of government is to protect the well-being of its people—most crucially and visibly during emergencies such as the recent outbreak of the coronavirus. The IMF has $50 billion available in rapid-disbursing emergency financing to help countries suffering from the virus. As Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, what we want is to guarantee that people are not going to die because of a lack of money.