Publication: Nicaragua : Public Expenditure Review 2001-2006
Loading...
Published
2008-03
ISSN
Date
2012-06-14
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Nicaragua has made impressive progress since 2001 in reducing the overall fiscal deficit. A series of internal and external shocks (hurricane Mitch, banking crisis, elections) reopened major fiscal gaps at the end of the 1990s, which threatened to destabilize the economy. Since then, fiscal management has remained prudent in spite of spending pressures, resulting in an improvement of the combined public sector balance (after grants) from a deficit of 5.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2002 to a surplus of 0.2 percent in 2006. The Public Expenditure Review (PER) has assessed Nicaragua's Public Financial Management (PFM) performance, using an international framework of reference that addresses seven critical dimensions: (i) credibility of the budget; (ii) comprehensiveness and transparency; (iii) budget planning; (iv) predictability and control in budget execution; (v) accounting, recording, and reporting; (vi) external scrutiny and audit; and (vii) donor practices that affect PFM. The assessment reveals that significant progress has been made since January 2004 in the implementation of the 2003 Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA) Action Plan, but that some areas require further attention. Based on that assessment, the following measures are considered critical for scaling up ongoing efforts to reform and modernize public financial management (PFM). Nicaragua has come a long way since the beginning of this decade in bringing its overall fiscal balances under control. This puts Nicaragua in a good position for combating poverty in a sustained manner. To maintain that position, however, it will need to overcome further challenges that threaten to undermine fiscal stability in the medium term, notably a rapidly growing public wage bill and fiscal transfers to the municipalities. Looking beyond macroeconomic stability, Nicaragua also needs to pick up the pace of economic growth in order to generate greater momentum in poverty reduction. In this regard, the PER has identified various options for improving the quality of public expenditures in key areas relevant for economic growth. It also pointed out the most important measures needed to modernize public expenditure management and, thereby, facilitate the adjustments needed to improve the quality of public spending in a cost-effective manner. It is hoped that these insights prove useful to the authorities in their efforts to promote faster growth and poverty reduction in Nicaragua.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2008. Nicaragua : Public Expenditure Review 2001-2006. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8090 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication PRSPs and Budgets(A Synthesis of Five Case Studies, 2005-01-18)This paper synthesizes the findings from a series of case studies on the interaction between the PRSP process and the budget. The five studies, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Tanzania and Vietnam aim to assess the extent to which public finance management and budget allocations reflect the principles and content of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PRSP, hence providing insights into progress in PRS implementation. The cases also shed light on whether the PRSP process itself has fostered more accountable, efficient and pro-poor budget processes and allocations as of 2003.The PRSP process, with its focus on data and information for evidence-based policy-making, open and participatory policy-making processes, poverty results and country-led donor coordination, alignment and harmonization has the potential to significantly improve the pro-poor focus and general accountability of budgeting processes.The cases confront a number of methodological challenges. First, in some countries and sectors, lack of appropriate data constrained the extent to which the research questions could be fully answered. Second, the PRSP remains a relatively recent innovation in all the countries studied and we recognize that many of our findings are preliminary, and require additional confirmation over time. Third, any assessment of the value added of the PRSP approach needs to be cognizant of the initial conditions in country, both to avoid ascribing successes to the PRSP which pre-date its existence, and to temper expectations about what the approach can deliver in a relatively short space of time given the starting point of each country. To address this last challenge, the case studies explicitly acknowledge the pre-existing situation in-country and try to assess the value added of the PRSP process.The four countries studied have a number of common features.Finally, and perhaps most importantly, all five countries share a high-level political commitment to addressing poverty, although the extent to which this commitment permeates throughout government agencies varies from country to country.The five countries, however, also display many distinctive features. Bolivia and Cambodia, for example, both suffer from high degrees of political fragmentation, which in Bolivia has manifested itself as civil unrest on a number of occasions in the last two years. Burkina Faso, Tanzania, and Vietnam, on the other hand, benefit from more stable political systems and an inherited commitment to pro-poor policies from socialist governments.Publication Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State : Public Finance Review(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-05)The objective of this study is to explore in depth public finance issues and their impact on decentralized service delivery at the regional and woreda levels in Benishangul Gumuz (BG) region. The study is carried out as part of the federal and some regional case studies designed to examine effectiveness of public finances of sub-national governments. This study was expected to (i) review the institutional arrangement for managing public finances at the regional level including policies, budgetary institutions, systems and processes; (ii) assess the level, trend, and composition of public spending (both functional and economic classification) in per capita terms over the past five years and identify key achievements and limitations; (iii) assess the level, trend, and, composition of revenue at the regional level and examine the financing framework, including ways to increase local revenue generation capacity; (iv) assess the role of external aid in supporting decentralized service delivery and the sustainability of the program in absence of external aid; (v) review the planning and budgeting process as well as the quality of PFM system; and (vi) data permitting, establish the link between the level of spending and the outputs and outcomes for selected sectors. The study used standard public financial process review methodologies used for undertaking PFM assessments. The report reviewed the various studies, plans and performance reports of the various sectors in the regions between 1997 and 2001. In addition, key informant interviews were carried out at bureaus levels and woreda offices of education, health, water, agriculture and rural development, finance and economic development, revenue, General Auditor, rural road and woreda administrations.Publication Malawi Public Expenditure Review(Washington, DC, 2013-11)This public expenditure review (PER 2013) is prepared in response to a request by the Government of Malawi (GOM). It is aligned with the fifth country assistance strategy (CAS) FY2013-FY16. The PER offers policies to improve public expenditure efficiency defined in the context of Malawi as delivering similar or improved level and quality of government services with constrained overall resource envelope as described in the new GOM fiscal framework. The PER has four main objectives. First, it supports the government to enhance the quality and efficiency of public financial management and provide inputs to the preparation of its budget. Second, it complements the on-going public finance and economic management (PFEM) reforms. Third, it provides development partners in Malawi with analytical inputs into their operations. Fourth, the PER is expected to become a crucial component of the implementation of the fiscal framework, underpinning the new extended credit facility (ECF) agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July 2012. The PER 2013 consists of seven chapters. The first two chapters focus on the overall macro-fiscal framework, planning, and budgeting processes. Chapters 3 to 7 analyze the allocative, technical efficiency, and equity of sectoral public expenditures in agriculture, transport, education, health, and social protection respectively.Publication Bhutan Country Economic Update : Accelerating Growth and Poverty Reduction(Washington, DC, 2007-09-22)This report was prepared to help the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) meet its felt need for more economic analysis and policy advice. It also seeks to provide information to a wider audience of development partners and interested parties. Over the past 25 years, Bhutan has been developing rapidly, pursuing sound economic policies, exploiting hydropower, and enjoying strong support from external development partners. Solid growth continues to raise per capita income and support improvements in social indicators. Through the prism of these four elements, this report seeks to contribute to the policy discussion by providing an integrative analysis and update of the Bhutanese economy, as well as developing a set of key recommendations and issues that warrant consideration or further study. Section two describes ongoing governance reforms, outlines the objectives articulated in Bhutan's Vision 2020 document and the Ninth Five-Year Plan (Ninth Plan), discusses the poverty reduction strategy, and notes progress towards meeting the millennium development goals. Section three examines recent economic developments, including growth, the balance of payments, and external debt. Section four analyzes macroeconomic policy, highlighting the challenge of fiscal volatility and the need to manage expectations surrounding the coming on-stream of the giant hydropower project Tala. Section five discusses several structural aspects of public resource management, including ongoing fiscal and financial management reforms, the importance of avoiding the 'natural resource curse,' and the treatment of state owned enterprises. Section six investigates the role of strengthening the investment climate for facilitating private sector development. Section seven comments on the prospects for accelerating growth, looking at the development of additional hydropower resources, construction, tourism, and agribusiness, emphasizing that while hydropower will continue to drive economic growth, tourism and value added activities in agriculture will be central to boosting growth and generating broad-based employment. Section eight concludes with medium term development prospects and challenges.Publication Liberia - 2008 Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review(World Bank, 2009-06-01)The 2008 Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR) assess Liberia's public expenditure performance along four main dimensions: macroeconomic, institutional, allocations between sectors, and allocations within key sectors. At the macroeconomic level, it describes the external economic constraints and opportunities that will drive growth and revenue mobilization over the medium term and determine the likely fiscal envelope (chapter one). It next reviews the institutional structures that guide and ensure appropriate resource allocation and assesses the strength and weaknesses of the current systems using a standardized public expenditure and financial accountability scoring system (chapter two). It then assesses how public expenditure has been allocated between sectors and priorities (chapter three). It lastly reviews the allocation of resources within two priority sectors, health and education (chapter four).
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.