Publication: Lao People's Democratic Republic - Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) : Public Financial Management Assessment
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2010-06-01
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2012-03-19
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The purpose of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment is to provide the Government of Lao PDR (GOL) with a concise, standardized, objective, indicator-led assessment of the country's public financial management (PFM) systems to provide a benchmark against which to measure the further strengthening of Lao PFM. Partial assessments have been made in the past. However, this is the first comprehensive diagnosis covering the overall PFM system in Lao PDR. The Lao PDR (current population 6 million) is on the United Nations' (UN) 2008 list of least-developed countries (LDCs), with average per-capita income of approximately US$850. The Government of Lao's (GOL) objective is that economic growth should lift the country out of this status by 2020. The economy has been growing rapidly in the most recent period: over 2000-08, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 7 percent a year on average. Development of the economy has depended particularly on the growth of mineral and energy exports and of tourism, and on the development of light manufacturing whose products are sold primarily in South East Asian markets. The output of agriculture, which continues to account for approximately 75 percent of employment, has been growing but more slowly. The most developed parts of the country are the flatter lands of the Mekong valley, which also provide the bulk of tax revenues. The remoter hill country areas remain engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture and forestry activities.
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“World Bank. 2010. Lao People's Democratic Republic - Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) : Public Financial Management Assessment. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3000 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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