Integrated Fiduciary Assessment

2015-11-05, World Bank

A fiduciary systems assessment (FSA) was carried out to evaluate the arrangements relevant to the operation and to determine whether they provide reasonable assurance that the operation funds will be used for their intended purpose. Taking into account the improvements required and the agreement on the actions required to strengthen the systems (which are reflected in the program action plan (PAP), the overall fiduciary framework is considered adequate to support the operation management and to achieve the desired results. Assessments have been carried out in five states through two consulting firms. PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (PwC) was engaged to carry out assessments in West Bengal and Odisha, while Ernst and Young Limited (E and Y) were engaged for assessments in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The overall objective of the operation is to accelerate efforts under swachh Bharat mission gramin (SBM-G) to achieve universal sanitation coverage, enhance cleanliness, and eliminate open defecation in rural areas by leveraging Bank funds to incentivize performance of the states and, to increase ministry of drinking water and sanitation (MDWS) capacity to facilitate states in program implementation. The proposed operation will support the national program over a five year period (2015-2020); coinciding with the timeframe of the national program. To strengthen the program’s procurement implementation capacity, several crucial measures should be adopted including additional staffing, intensive training, and hiring of qualified procurement and contract management support consultants, and robust procurement audit. The Bank will also provide assistance and support to the program implementation and will closely monitor the program procurement performance.

2015, World Bank

This report focuses on areas with highest potential efficiency gains to increase the value for money from investments in core public goods and services such as extension, irrigation and rural roads. This is a first attempt to carry out such an analysis in Cambodia, and even in the Greater Mekong sub-region. Based on extensive data gathering and surveys, this chapter analyzes the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural sector expenditures in Cambodia and assesses various options for increasing the impact of government expenditures on agricultural growth. Other challenges include an excessive focus on rehabilitating primary irrigation infrastructure and a neglect of secondary and tertiary systems, a lack of maintenance of irrigation and rural roads, and the slow pace of developing or adopting new technologies to reduce future maintenance costs. There is also a need to better prioritize agricultural and related infrastructure expenditures, both by type and by geographic location, to maximize their impact on growth. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Chapter two presents recent developments in the agriculture sector of Cambodia. Chapter three gives an overview of sectoral expenditure trends over the last decade. The budget process and its relationship to sectoral development strategies is discussed in chapter three. Chapter four discusses the novel contribution of the AgPER in analyzing the efficiency and effectiveness of government spending using benefit-cost analysis to examine select public investments. Chapter five discusses how likely climate change trends may affect future agriculture expenditures and suggests some priority areas for public spending. The conclusion section summarizes the major findings and policy recommendations of the report.