Strengthening Public Expenditure Management in Developing Countries

Many efforts to strengthen and modernise Public Expenditure Management in developing countries risk joining a long-line of failures. But, in a new paper, expert Daniel Tommasi explains how proper PEM design and phased implementation can yield positive results.

In his paper, "Strengthening Public Expenditure Management in Developing Countries: Sequencing Issues", published in March, Mr Tommasi says that to improve PEM in developing countries, partners must first take into account the country's context and culture.

"Public expenditure management is not the solution," said Mr Tommasi, in a recent interview for www.Capacity4Dev.eu, "a budgetary system should reflect the administrative culture of a country and how they develop."

The first steps in preparing a programme should be an assessment of current capacity, including an evaluation of ability to achieve objectives and identification of stakeholders' main concerns, said Mr Tommasi. The results of these assessments should help shape the first phase of a reform programme and implement what Mr Tommasi calls "the basics".

The second technical part of the paper is intended to help develop reform priorities for each of the main PEM areas. It recommends drawing up reform priorities for different phases of the PEM cycle, from budget formulation to external audit, and identifies some cross-cutting issues. It distinguishes "the basics" from more advanced measures placed under the heading "further steps".

Read Mr Tommasi's report, Strengthening Public Expenditure Management in Developing Countries: Sequencing Issues.

Read a SUMMARY of Strengthening Public Expenditure Management in Developing Countries: Sequencing Issues.