Belarus Public Expenditure Review : Enhancing Public Services in Times of Austerity
This report is the second volume of the programmatic Public Expenditure Review (PER) in Belarus. In 2010 the Ministry of Finance requested that the Bank provide sequenced and targeted advice on the fiscal reform options across priority areas of the...
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| Format: | Public Expenditure Review |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, Dc
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/02/17536588/belarus-public-expenditure-review-enhancing-public-services-times-austerity http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13209 |
| Summary: | This report is the second volume of the
programmatic Public Expenditure Review (PER) in Belarus. In
2010 the Ministry of Finance requested that the Bank provide
sequenced and targeted advice on the fiscal reform options
across priority areas of the budget. Responding to this
request, a programmatic PER was agreed upon. The first
volume was delivered in November 2011 and focused on
providing policy options for a sustainable pension system,
better targeted social assistance and rationalization of
energy and agricultural subsidies. The objective of this
volume is to identify reform opportunities to enhance the
quality of key public services in a fiscally constrained
environment. Specifically, the second PER will analyze three
key areas of the budget: intergovernmental fiscal relations
and public spending in the education and health sectors.
These three areas were chosen because they are significant
from a fiscal perspective. More than half of government
spending is channeled through sub-national governments,
while education and health spending together account for a
quarter of government spending (largely at the sub-national
level). Beyond their fiscal importance, enhancing the
quality and efficiency of spending in these sectors is
critical for improving living standards and human capital in
Belarus. However, since public finances are expected to
remain tight for some years to come, expenditures, even in
priority sectors such as health and education, will remain
constrained. Therefore, the focus of this report is on the
productivity of public spending. The primary thrust is to
enhance the allocated and operational efficiency of
resources to allow for improved quality of services and
social outcomes while containing overall costs. The report
also examines the impact of Belarus changing demographic
profile, which will have a significant and lasting impact on
demand for both health and education services. The report
has four chapters. The first chapter reviews recent
macro-economic and fiscal developments, and in particular
the impact of the macro-economic crises on public finances
and its implications for fiscal policy choices going
forward. The second chapter examines intergovernmental
fiscal relations and the fiscal incentives they create for
sub-national governments. The third chapter looks at health
sector outcomes and expenditures to identify opportunities
for improved spending efficiency and sustainable health care
financing. The fourth chapter is focused on resource
allocation and utilization in the education sector to
provide options for improved efficiency and effectiveness of
education spending. |
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