Zambia - Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review : Country Financial Accountability Assessment, Annex, Volume 2
The challenges faced by Zambia in public expenditure management (PEM) have been longstanding, and will require targeted efforts, as well as a strong degree of political will to address. The recently launched constitutional review, which includes is...
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| Format: | Integrated Fiduciary Assessment |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/11/2808338/zambia-public-expenditure-management-financial-accountability-review-vol-2-3-annex-country-financial-accountability-assessment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14656 |
| Summary: | The challenges faced by Zambia in public
expenditure management (PEM) have been longstanding, and
will require targeted efforts, as well as a strong degree of
political will to address. The recently launched
constitutional review, which includes issues of public
finance, the anti-corruption campaign of the new Government,
and the renewed interest by Parliament in governance issues,
and accountability have all been encouraging steps.
Nevertheless, for Zambia to assure that public
accountability is enduring, and not dependent upon the
Government of the day, it must take steps to strengthen
institutions of the State that can provide public oversight,
and that promote basic checks and balances. This report
provides a very detailed analysis of the country's PEM,
and accountability processes. Yet, many of the
recommendations are not new, but have been cited in previous
reports of the Bank, and/or other donors. Effective
implementation of public sector reforms will likely remain a
challenge in Zambia. The limited capacity of Government
suggests the need to target a few major aspects of public
finance, and to address them persistently: improving
compliance with existing regulations; strengthening the
oversight institutions of the State; promoting public access
to information; and, rebuilding information management, and
reporting systems. The report also deals with the second
objective of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP),
i.e., with ways and methods by which the Government can
ensure efficient, equitable, and transparent management of
public resources. It also focuses on the dimension of
governance, i.e., the effectiveness of government to be able
to provide public services. The specific objectives of the
report are to: (a) provide a comprehensive and integrated
assessment of Zambia's overall fiduciary risk, i.e.,
budget management, financial systems and auditing, and
public procurement; (b) document PEM reforms progress
to-date, and challenges facing Zambia; and, (c) develop a
realistic action plan, outlining short and medium term
remedial measures, which the Government should implement
with donor support. |
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