Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...
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Stefan Leiderer et al.<br />
only with insufficient resources and missing concerted ef<strong>for</strong>ts (CABRI 2004,<br />
39). 37<br />
The MTEF was introduced as a pilot in four ministries (Education, Health,<br />
Agriculture, and <strong>Public</strong> Works) in financial year 1995/1996. Like in other<br />
African countries, the exercise was initiated by donors to improve mediumterm<br />
budget planning. Nevertheless, the MTEF was never operational as a<br />
rolling medium term planning tool in Malawi. If used at all, figures were<br />
rather adapted to the new estimates each year and the focus was only on the<br />
first year while the two outer years were neglected. Donors failed to create<br />
genuine government ownership <strong>for</strong> the instrument, but also failed to support<br />
its effective use, e.g. by changing from yearly pledges <strong>for</strong> financial aid to<br />
predictable medium-term commitments. Thus, the government does not appear<br />
to be genuinely committed to the MTEF, instead, it uses only a semifunctional<br />
version to satisfy donor requirements. 38<br />
6.4 Coordination<br />
6.4.1 Horizontal coordination at central level (MoF, MEPD,<br />
sectors)<br />
A remarkable feature of the institutional setup in Malawi is the distribution of<br />
key PFM responsibilities between two ministries, namely the Ministry of<br />
Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development<br />
(MEPD). The MEPD is mainly responsible <strong>for</strong> the elaboration of strategic<br />
policies and plans, <strong>for</strong> example, the <strong>PRSP</strong> and short-term und medium-term<br />
development strategies, such as the <strong>Public</strong> Sector Investment Programme<br />
(PSIP). The MoF is mainly responsible <strong>for</strong> the allocation of resources, both<br />
<strong>for</strong> the recurrent and <strong>for</strong> the capital budget. Other joint responsibilities include<br />
macroeconomic <strong>for</strong>ecasting and the monitoring and evaluation of<br />
projects. There<strong>for</strong>e, strong coordination links are necessary between MoF<br />
and MEPD.<br />
37 Durevall / Erlandsson (2005, 17–21) provide a detailed historical account of the MTEF in<br />
Malawi.<br />
38 There is, <strong>for</strong> example, no clear link between the MTEF and the <strong>Public</strong> Sector Investment<br />
Programme (PSIP).<br />
110 German Development <strong>Institut</strong>e