Publication: Mauritania : Improving Budget Management to Promote Sustainable Development and Reduce Poverty, Public Expenditure Review Update
Loading...
Date
2007-12
ISSN
Published
2007-12
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The Public Expenditure Review (PER) has provided a basis for analysis and action under the Public Sector Capacity Building Program(PRECASP), one of components is related to the improvement of public finance management and is expected to support the implementation of the measures proposed in this document. These analyses deal with issues closely related to this review, including (i) the problems faced by the financial sector and their impact on public finances; (ii) the issue of transparency with regards to the management of oil revenues, and (iii) medium-term and long-term macroeconomic projections that determine the prospects for growth and for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Its objectives are to identify ways to improve public financial management in the sector and to alleviate the constraints on agriculture development, with a view to increasing productivity and reducing poverty in rural areas. Moreover, the PRECASP will finance expenditure reviews in priority sectors. Oil-related research, promotion and exploration activities are being intensified and are expected to lead to the exploitation of additional fields in the short term. Exploitation of other off-shore reserves is expected to start in the next few years. The largest oil field, Thof, should be operational by 2010. As a result of oil revenues, per capita GNP is expected to double. Mauritania must rise to the challenge posed by that windfall by establishing adequate mechanisms for the rational management of public resources, including oil revenue. The mobilization of tax revenue should be intensified and an adequate tax base ensured, compatible with private sector development, so that public spending relies more on stable revenue sources, not volatile ones like oil. Monetary and budget policies should aim at controlling inflation and ensuring a real effective exchange rate (REER) favorable for Mauritania's competitiveness.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2007. Mauritania : Improving Budget Management to Promote Sustainable Development and Reduce Poverty, Public Expenditure Review Update. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7635 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 Improving Public Expenditure Efficiency for Growth and Poverty Reduction : A Public Expenditure Review for the Republic of Moldova(Washington, DC, 2007-02)The Government of Moldova's Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (EGPRSP) lays out an ambitious plan for sustaining growth and poverty reduction and reshaping the government to meet the needs of a market economy. The public expenditures envisaged under this ambitious plan, however, vastly exceed the domestic resources available to the Government. Additional foreign budgetary support may help alleviate some of that resource constraint. Recognizing that the share of tax revenues and expenditures to GDP in Moldova already greatly exceed comparable international levels, generating additional domestic tax resources risks crowding out the private sector and undermining growth prospects. This suggests that in order to finance higher order public expenditures priorities, the Government needs to create fiscal space from within the existing resource envelope. This will require inter and intra-sectoral reallocation of expenditures and an increase in the efficiency of public spending rather than increasing the relative size of government.Publication Republic of Haiti - Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR) : Improving Efficiency of the Fiscal System and Investing in Public Capital to Accelerate Growth and Reduce Poverty(Washington, DC, 2008-01)After the lost decade 1994-2004, marked by political instability and economic decline, Haiti has reformed significantly and revived growth, especially in the past three years. Macroeconomic policies implemented since mid-2004 helped restart economic growth, reestablish fiscal discipline, reduce inflation and increase international reserves. Financial sector stability has been maintained though weaknesses have emerged. Significant progress was also achieved in the implementation of economic governance measures, mainly in the area of legal framework, core public institutions and financial management processes and procedures. Notably, basic budget procedures were restored, the public procurement system strengthened, and anti-corruption efforts stepped up. Efforts were also made to improve efficiency and transparency in the management of public enterprises. These recent political and economic developments open a window of opportunity to break with Haiti's turbulent past and create the sound foundations for strong and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. In such an environment, the development challenge of more dynamic growth in order to reduce poverty requires bold policy actions across a broad spectrum covering various areas of Government interventions to: (i) improve security; (ii) expand and improve the quality of the infrastructure base; (iii) expand the economic base and (iv) enhance human capital. But because of Haiti's scarce resources, prioritizing Government interventions is critical to ensure that public resources are allocated to their best uses. This calls for reforms to improve efficiency of public spending. However, public expenditure reforms would not be enough to decisively put Haiti on a strong and sustained growth path unless they are complemented by revenue-enhancing measures. This implies that the country design a comprehensive fiscal reform package. Major policy lesson from this experiment is that strong and sustainable growth depends on the scope and quality of the fiscal reforms. Fiscal reforms should target a broad-based fiscal package, which aims at expanding the fiscal space and improving efficiency in the allocation of public spending. This package would combine: (a) an increase in total public investment; (b) a reallocation of public spending to investment; (c) a crease in the effective indirect tax rate; (d) an increase in direct tax rate; (e) an increase in security spending; and (f) a reduction in collection costs. The Haiti macro-model shows that the fiscal package tends to have positive impact on growth and poverty over time. Foreign aid could play a catalytic role to foster fiscal reforms and help accelerate growth in the short and medium-term.Publication Nicaragua - Public Expenditure Review : Improving the Poverty Focus of Public Spending(Washington, DC, 2001-12-07)This Public Expenditure Review has two broad objectives. The first is to analyze the pattern and evolution of public expenditures in Nicaragua with a view toward assessing their consistency with the priorities expressed in the recent Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), as well as recommending ways to improve their poverty reducing impact. The PRSP puts heavy emphasis on the social sectors and the rural sectors: projects in these sectors account for 80 percent of the total portfolio of poverty reducing projects. Accordingly, the sector reviews in this report mainly focus on these two sectors plus transport, which has the single largest sector investment program. Municipal finances are not covered for lack of adequate information. The second objective of the PER is to diagnose Nicaragua's institutional capacity to implement the poverty reduction programs to be defined in the PRSP and recommend measures for raising that capacity. The Joint Staff Assessment of the Interim and full PRSP point toward the need to proioritize further the poverty reducing projects and programs envisaged by the government. Such a prioritization is likely to require a significant reallocation of public resources that could strain the limited capacity of the public sector's planning and budgeting framework. As part of this institutional diagnosis, the PER also evaluates the tracking mechanism to monitor the use of HIPC funds, and recommends measures for strengthening it.Publication The Republic of Uganda - Public Expenditure Review : Report on the Progress and Challenges of Budget Reforms(Washington, DC, 2002-09-23)This PER emphasizes the importance of the government and its development partners developing a systematic program and a sequenced approach to address identified concerns to allow Uganda to achieve macrostability, fiscal sustainability, and poverty reduction. The report is organized in seven chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the macro challenges Uganda faces and how these are linked to fiscal considerations. Macrostability has largely been achieved with satisfactory growth rates higher than in the previous year. But the unprecedented terms of trade shock has resulted in the decline of total receipts from exports. The reduction of foreign exchange revenues in combination with lower revenue collections has led to fiscal constraints. Chapter 2 notes the need to ensure stakeholder contribution to the budget process and to improve quality of budget planning, choices, and predictability. Chapter 3 analyzes the health, education, and water and sanitation sectors and describes the great progress made in aloocative efficiency --although these sectors are experiencing major challenges in achieving operational efficiency. Chapter 4 discusses how the government has "commitment control systems (CCSs)" to address the problem of arrears. Chapter 5 identifies how Uganda uses tracking systems to identify problems in flow of funds. Chapter 6 discusses the growing challenges for budget preparation, execution, and monitoring at the local government level. Chapter 7 draws conclusions.Publication Georgia - Public Expenditure Review : Managing Expenditure Pressures for Sustainability and Growth(Washington, DC, 2012-11)Economic growth has rebounded strongly in Georgia during 2010-12 and commendable fiscal consolidation has been implemented, although considerable medium-term macro-fiscal challenges remain. This public expenditure review (PER) considers possible sources of expenditure pressure that may affect the fiscal consolidation program and suggests options to manage them. This PER presents a number of options for consideration to manage fiscal consolidation, which can contribute toward greater selectivity in capital expenditures, enhanced sustainability of the road investment program, and containing medium-term social expenditure pressures. The rest of this synthesis report is in five chapters. Chapter first summarizes the macroeconomic context and assesses trade-offs associated in balancing the overall composition of public expenditures. The second and third chapters illustrate policy options and implications associated with containing social expenditure pressures and improving effectiveness of health expenditures, respectively. Chapter fourth reviews the international experience in strengthening capital budgeting and provides options for consideration for Georgia. Finally, the fifth chapter discusses options associated with rebalancing road sector expenditures.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.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 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 Supporting Youth at Risk(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)The World Bank has produced this policy Toolkit in response to a growing demand from our government clients and partners for advice on how to create and implement effective policies for at-risk youth. The author has highlighted 22 policies (six core policies, nine promising policies, and seven general policies) that have been effective in addressing the following five key risk areas for young people around the world: (i) youth unemployment, underemployment, and lack of formal sector employment; (ii) early school leaving; (iii) risky sexual behavior leading to early childbearing and HIV/AIDS; (iv) crime and violence; and (v) substance abuse. The objective of this Toolkit is to serve as a practical guide for policy makers in middle-income countries as well as professionals working within the area of youth development on how to develop and implement an effective policy portfolio to foster healthy and positive youth development.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.