Publication: Honduras : Public Expenditure Management for Poverty Reduction and Fiscal Sustainability
Loading...
Date
2001-06-28
ISSN
Published
2001-06-28
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
As a highly indebted poor country, Honduras faces a dual challenge of reducing poverty while ensuring medium-term sustainability of its public spending to avoid recurrence of over indebtedness. This Public Expenditure Review (PER) is intended to contribute to the government's overall poverty reduction efforts through efficient use of public resources and fiscally sustainable improvement in public services. It provides an assessment of Honduras' institutional capacity for good expenditure management and identifies key policy priorities in selected sector (health, education, and infrastructure). A good institutional arrangement of effective public expenditure management requires achieving the three inter-related objectives of aggregate fiscal discipline, allocation of resources to strategic priorities, and operational efficiency. One of the problems in Honduras' public expenditure management that can be tackled immediately is the need for improvement in the budget classification system for better fiscal transparency. Besides, a medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) is useful to guide budgetary decision-making that balances medium-term fiscal affordability/sustainability and strategic priorities of policies and expenditure programs. This report presents an illustration that emphasizes developing a MTEF for personnel expenditures, whose control is critical for fiscal sustainability and the government's ability to fund other critical spending item for poverty reduction.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2001. Honduras : Public Expenditure Management for Poverty Reduction and Fiscal Sustainability. Public expenditure review (PER);. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15506 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 From the International Financial Crisis towards Inclusive Growth in the Dominican Republic(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010-01-01)During the second half of the year 2008, the world experienced the worst worldwide economic crisis in over 70 years. The effects deriving from this crisis can still be felt over most of the planet. Low or negative economic growth in developed nations and emerging economies, high levels of unemployment and millions of persons below the poverty line, are some of the starkest examples. In the Dominican Republic, the effects of this international crisis are manifested in the reduction in international trade, the drop in tourism and in remittances, and an economic growth rate lower than expected. In this regard, the Dominican Republic asked the World Bank to prepare nine policy notes which are presented in this volume. These notes focus on the following topics: 1) long run economic growth in the Dominican Republic; 2) ease of doing business; 3) logistics for competitiveness; 4) access to financial services with emphasis on financing for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); 5) the electricity sector; 6) climate change and the Dominican Republic, 7) the health sector, 8) territorial development, and 9) accountability and performance system. The policy notes presented here argue that an inclusive development is possible in the Dominican Republic. However, great challenges must be faced to meet this goal. From the analysis presented in this volume four challenges emerge which must be faced head-on in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive development.Publication Mongolia - Consolidating the Gains, Managing Booms and Busts, and Moving to Better Service Delivery : A Public Expenditure and Financial Management Review - Core Report(World Bank, 2009-01-02)Mongolia's external economic outlook is dramatically changing as it faces sharp reductions in the copper price, caused by the financial crisis and global downturn. This compels the government now to drastically cut spending to prudently manage the budget. The budget is extremely dependent on mining revenues. Government is taking the right step in proposing a balanced budget for 2009. But further adjustments will be needed given the continuing fall in copper prices. A prudent fiscal stance will also be needed to manage inflation, which accelerated in the past year to over 30 percent. The current situation highlights the need to manage mining revenues better than in recent years. Mongolia saved little during the boom years, but instead dramatically increased expenditures on wages and salaries, and poorly-targeted social transfers. Adopting a multi-year fiscal framework-which enforces saving during the boom years, sets limits to expenditure growth and debt, and ensures transparency to the public-can help. Since much of the past windfall revenues have been spent, the country enters the down-turn with little savings and high inflation, forcing it to cut expenditures with every drop in the copper price. To avoid such situations in the future, the government has the opportunity to adopt a transparent, multi-year budget framework for expenditures and investment. This includes adopting a new fiscal responsibility law. It will ensure that the government saves during the 'boom' years, so that it can continue to spend during the 'bust' years. It will also set limits to expenditure growth and public debt. Within the limits set by this framework, parliament can then exercise its constitutional rights to amend the budget.Publication Moldova : Public Economic Management Review(Washington, DC, 2003-03-24)Unfavorable initial conditions, and extreme vulnerability to external shocks, as experienced by Moldova's economic transition, culminated in the 1998 regional financial crisis, which fostered the need for radical fiscal retrenchment, namely, reductions in social sectors expenditures. Currently, and despite a seemingly reasonable, attainable growth, the challenge for the Government is to improve basic outcomes in social sectors, and address inequities in access to basic social services. Key recommendations in this report suggest: a) launching a major program of public service reform; b) strengthening the government decision-making process, through the introduction of a system of Cabinet Committees, and the restructuring of the State Chancellery into a non-political Government Secretariat; c) strengthening strategic prioritization in budget formulation, through a structured approach to developing, and implementing the Medium Term Expenditure Framework; d) strengthening the budget process, through increased budget coverage - deepening Treasury coverage - and setting a stronger, internal/external accountability framework. Similarly, recommendations call for a strengthened civil service management, by amending the Civil Service Law, securing the application of key merit principles, and de-politicization, while launching a functional program to rationalize government structures. Furthermore, sector-specific reforms in the social sectors should be accelerated, particularly for education and social assistance, balancing basic education, primary health care, and emergency services.Publication Albania : Public Expenditure and Institutional Review, Volume 2. Main Report(Washington, DC, 2001-04-16)This report presents an in-depth evaluation of the budgetary planning process in Albania and the institutional arrangements required for better management of public expenditures. The report does not provide a detailed analysis of expenditures or an assessment of investment projects and their outcomes in each sector. Such a shift in emphasis is appropriate given the currently weak institutional capacities in Albania and the need to enforce accountability in the public sector.The report is arranged as follows: Chapter 1 deals with the macroeconomic frmaework and policies needed to maintain fiscal sustainability and improve fiscal discipline. Chapter 2 discusses revenue and expenditure patterns, presents measures that would enhance revenue performance and analyzes the allocation of expenditures. This chapter is designed to highlight the key expenditure priorities that should be more fully addressed as Albania moves forward with the medium-term expenditure framework process (MTEF). The bulk of the report--Chapters 3, 4, and 5--addresses key challenges facing Albania to improve its institutional environment and its capacities. Chapter 3 assesses the public expenditure management process and its weaknesses and how this process should be reformed. Chapter 4 explains how establishing the MTEF mechanism could provide a better linkage between policy planning and the allocation of resources. Chapter 5 discusses meeting institutional capacity requirements.Publication Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia : Medium-Term Public Expenditure Priorities(Washington, DC, 2002-10-16)Given the tight overall resource constraints in Kosovo, and in the face of declining donor support and limited access to external finance, difficult choices and trade-offs on spending decisions will need to be made. The main challenge will be to develop expenditure policies which will preserve macro-stability and ensure that public services are sustainable, comprehensive, and efficiently provided. Public spending policies need to lay the basis for broad-based equitable economic growth, and target the most needy, in an effective and efficient fashion. Through introducing the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) approach in 2002, the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) have started to make progress in adding a medium-term context to budget policy. This report identifies the several important expediture measures that require action. First, spending has to be reallocated across sectors, so reduce subsidies, reassess public sector employment, and provide finance for investment needs. Second, improve the efficiency of existing spending in the health, education, and social protection sectors. Third, increase the budget spending on health to provide a greater range of services and target educational finance to reduce inequality. Fourth, strengthen the effectiveness of the budget as a policy tool. Fifth, further improve transparency and accountability.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12)World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.Publication South Asia Development Update, April 2024: Jobs for Resilience(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-02)South Asia is expected to continue to be the fastest-growing emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) region over the next two years. This is largely thanks to robust growth in India, but growth is also expected to pick up in most other South Asian economies. However, growth in the near-term is more reliant on the public sector than elsewhere, whereas private investment, in particular, continues to be weak. Efforts to rein in elevated debt, borrowing costs, and fiscal deficits may eventually weigh on growth and limit governments' ability to respond to increasingly frequent climate shocks. Yet, the provision of public goods is among the most effective strategies for climate adaptation. This is especially the case for households and farms, which tend to rely on shifting their efforts to non-agricultural jobs. These strategies are less effective forms of climate adaptation, in part because opportunities to move out of agriculture are limited by the region’s below-average employment ratios in the non-agricultural sector and for women. Because employment growth is falling short of working-age population growth, the region fails to fully capitalize on its demographic dividend. Vibrant, competitive firms are key to unlocking the demographic dividend, robust private investment, and workers’ ability to move out of agriculture. A range of policies could spur firm growth, including improved business climates and institutions, the removal of financial sector restrictions, and greater openness to trade and capital flows.Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.