19 A Comparison Between Two Public Expenditure Management Systems in Africa
Author:
Ian Lienert
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Language:
English
Print Publication Date:
17 Sep 2004
Keywords:
BOOK; country; user payment; per capita income; francophone country; recipient country; exchange rate; hazard function; Health care spending; Africa; Western Hemisphere; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global; Asia and Pacific

Abstract

One important objective of the enhanced HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Country) debt reduction initiative is to redirect the budgetary resources released from servicing external debt toward poverty-reducing expenditures. Several questions arise in this context. First, are African countries’ public expenditure management systems robust enough to allow specific poverty-reducing expenditures to be identified in annual budgets and tracked in countries’ accounting systems? Second, does the expenditure control system allow poverty-reducing expenditures to be protected from cuts should there be unforeseen shortfalls in revenues? Third, are internal and external audit mechanisms effective, so as to ensure the integrity of expenditure reports, both in-year and annually? To answer these, and other questions, an assessment of the entire public expenditure management system is required in each country.

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Cover Helping Countries Develop
Helping Countries Develop
The Role of Fiscal Policy
ISBN:
9781589063181
Publication Date:
17 Sep 2004
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781589063181.071
Pages:
540
Front Matter
1 Fiscal Policy for Economic Development: An Overview
I Macroeconomic Policy in Developing Countries
II Public Spending and the Millennium Development Goals
III Revenues and Growth
IV. Fiscal Policy and Aid
V. Special Topics

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