24.07.2014 Views

Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...

Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...

Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Stefan Leiderer et al.<br />

tion of the two budgets, the actual allocation of resources and the disbursement<br />

of funds to MDAs is the responsibility of the MoF and the Treasury.<br />

Strategic and budget planning – the <strong>for</strong>mal link to the M<strong>PRSP</strong><br />

Budget planning in Malawi is based on a macroeconomic <strong>for</strong>ecast prepared<br />

by a special resource committee, composed of representatives of the Reserve<br />

Bank of Malawi, the MoF and the MEPD, and supported by the National<br />

Statistics Office (NSO). The <strong>for</strong>ecast consists in the projection of key macroeconomic<br />

data such as the economic growth rate, interest and inflation rates,<br />

level of debt, i.e. the amount of public resources available in the <strong>for</strong>thcoming<br />

years, including external inflows, etc. A special division in the MoF was<br />

established to deal with the management of external funds (Rakner et al.<br />

2004, 10). In theory, the annual budget process in Malawi is systematically<br />

integrated into the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which was introduced<br />

in 1995/96 in four pilot sectors (e.g. education and health) and has<br />

since been rolled out to all remaining ministries. The time frame of the MTEF<br />

covers the preparation of estimates <strong>for</strong> the coming budget year, i.e. the annual<br />

budget plus three outer years, i.e. the medium-term planning perspective<br />

(World Bank 1998, 42–43). At the time of writing, the MTEF only covered<br />

the central government level. 11<br />

At the time the field research <strong>for</strong> this study was undertaken the Malawi Poverty<br />

Reduction Strategy Paper (M<strong>PRSP</strong>) together with the Malawi Economic<br />

Growth Strategy (MEGS) were supposed to represent the most important<br />

references <strong>for</strong> strategic policy planning and the allocation of public<br />

resources. 12 In theory, the MEPD is responsible <strong>for</strong> screening proposals of the<br />

line ministries to determine whether they meet the development priorities of<br />

the government and if costing is realistic (Scek 2004, 8). To compile the<br />

PSIP, the MEPD then ranks project proposals, based on how well they fit into<br />

the government’s development strategy explicitly stated in the MPRS and the<br />

Malawi Economic Growth Strategy (Durevall / Erlandsson 2005, 22). The<br />

PSIP is then submitted to the budget department in the MoF and is used to<br />

<strong>for</strong>mulate the development budget. 13<br />

11 This will probably change because of recent re<strong>for</strong>ms.<br />

12 The first M<strong>PRSP</strong> was limited to the period 2002–2005. At the time of writing a new strategy<br />

document was being devised that would better integrate the two strategies.<br />

13 The first year of the PSIPS rolling plan should be identical with the development budget.<br />

58 German Development <strong>Institut</strong>e

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!