Publication: Democratic Republic of Congo : Public Expenditure Review
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2008-03
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2012-06-14
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This public expenditure review (PER) is an important exercise for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), because the new government is under a tremendous pressure from the population to show that it can provide a better life. The perception and anecdotal evidence that the wealth in DRC is not shared equitably among the population was a leading cause of the recent war on the DRC territory. A lack of action by the government to demonstrate its commitment to move in the right direction can translate into a renewed armed conflict. Without such a demonstration of commitment, international development partners are wary of granting aid to the country, which implies stagnating investment activities, and possible debt crises. The PER strongly advocates to break the cycle of apathy among line ministries of presenting an unrealistic wish-list of a budget proposal, receiving a budget allocation that has little to do with the proposal, enduring an erratic execution of even the diminished allocation, and not reporting back to the financial ministries of how exactly the public funds were used. Their experience of passing decades not receiving meaningful allocations of resources is an understandable reason for such apathy, but it is not an excuse. It is each line ministry's responsibility to present a credible budget based on its sector strategy, and report how the funds were used, so that the intended recipients of public goods and services are served. Development partners can assist where skills were lost during the long neglect. Finally, it is useful to take stock of the progress in the area of public financial management made under the transitional government, and for all the stakeholders to agree on (or at least discuss) the way forward. A functional public financial management system is a fundamental and important asset for any government, and particularly those hoping to attract foreign resources. Indeed, it is recommended that this exercise be undertaken periodically, every two years or so.
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“World Bank. 2008. Democratic Republic of Congo : Public Expenditure Review. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8117 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Democratic Republic of Congo - Public Expenditure Review (Vol. 1 of 2) : Executive Summary(Washington, DC, 2006-06)This report is based on the work carried out during the second half of 2002 in close collaboration with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government. It is part of a full range of efforts undertaken since July 2001 by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the goal of which is to help the DRC set in place a modern and viable public expenditure management system, specifically capable of tracking the destination of resources and assessing the quality of the work and services produced with their assistance, particularly as regards expenditures of potential benefit to the poorer segments of the population. Also, the World Bank's Transitional Support Strategy for the DRC, dated June 2001, had proposed that a public expenditure review (the review) be performed in order to make the departments more effective and improve the transparency of public resource management. In this regard, it should be noted that the chapter one analysis led to the World Bank's decision to undertake more in-depth work on the following subjects: (i) management of so-called common expenditures, (ii) management of public finances at the local level, and (iii) governance in general, in relation to public service delivery. Chapters two and three were widely used in preparing the country status reports on the health and education sectors, which are now being completed, while chapter four served as a background paper for the transportation sector. Similarly, the chapter five analysis was used: (i) as the first HIPC AAP1 (Heavily-Indebted Poor Country Assessment and Action Plan) report concerning the tracking of poverty reducing public spending, (ii) to assist the government in developing an action plan to improve the capacity to track the execution of public expenditures in general and pro-poor expenditures in particular, and (iii) in developing both the preliminary and final documents within the context of the DRC's joining the HIPC Initiative in July 2003. This report places an emphasis on (i) budget preparation and presentation, (ii) budget execution and public accounting, (iii) cash management, and (iv) public finances at the provincial level.Publication United Republic of Tanzania Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Review 2008(Washington, DC, 2009-06)Rising inflation represents a serious challenge for the government, including fiscal policy. 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It is important to improve reliability of the macro-framework by sustaining efforts to develop capacity in macro-fiscal policy and macro-modeling, which is an important tool for the government to properly assess expected levels of domestic revenue collection over the medium term. Although some major achievements have been obtained in capacity building program, priority areas for intervention have also been identified for 2009. 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This executive summary presents recent economic developments and fiscal sustainability analysis that takes into account petroleum and no-petroleum scenarios, with corresponding analysis on which of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are reachable. The summary reports on revenue and expenditure performance since 2000-01, issues related to the implementation of the public investment program (PIP) and its coordination with the NPRS, and the budget process, including findings from the Health PER, which highlights a lack of allocative efficiency. The summary reports on the financial fragility of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the possible fiscal consequences for the central budget, especially regarding the implicit subsidies and tax breaks to (and the hypothetical tariff increases of) the electricity and water company. The summary of reports on the status of the public finance management system (budget preparation, execution, control, governance, and human resources) and the reform process that may address many of the concerns it rises. Finally, the summary presents the findings related to the procurement process, including the legislative and regulatory framework, institutional framework and management capacity, procurement operations and market practices, and integrity and transparency of the system.Publication Moldova Public Expenditure Review : Capital Expenditures - Making Public Investment Work for Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth in Moldova(Washington, DC, 2013-06)This public expenditure review (PER) for Moldova is the result of a body of programmatic fiscal work. This PER focuses on capital expenditure. It supports the first pillar of the country partnership strategy (improving economic competitiveness) and complements the 2012 development policy operation. In the context of economic recovery and stabilization, government requested World Bank assistance in improving its capital allocation mechanism, as its fiscal consolidation program attempted to create space for critical infrastructure whilst gradually reducing the state's footprint in the economy. This report recommends ways to strengthen public investment processes, institutions, and sector policies to achieve better outcomes for public capital expenditures in Moldova. This report suggests reforms in public investment management and sector policies to raise cost-effectiveness and allocative efficiency of capital expenditures. Three key areas of reform are: (i) raise the quality of new projects by improving preliminary screening and project appraisal mechanisms; (ii) improve selection of new projects and ensure continuity of funding for ongoing projects through better prioritization and budgeting processes; and (iii) strengthen monitoring of project implementation for cost efficiency and timely delivery of public services. The report has four chapters. The first chapter presents the macroeconomic outlook and its implications for fiscal policy, particularly with respect to the capital budget. The second chapter presents the structure and classification of the capital budget as well as recent trends in capital expenditure levels and execution, and reviews the adequacy of resource allocations and utilization across sectors, given investment needs, national priorities and implementation capacity. The third chapter reviews public investment management processes and presents recommendations to improve the efficiency of public capital expenditure in Moldova. The fourth chapter discusses specific sector challenges and offers recommendations for improving capital expenditure outcomes.
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