Guinea-Bissau Public Expenditure Review : Managing Public Finance for Development
Guinea-Bissau is a small state in West Africa with a population of around 1.8 million. It is rich in natural resources (fisheries, forestry and agriculture) and biodiversity. Economic activity is, however, dominated by the production and sale of un...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/934031547818643963/Guinea-Bissau-Public-Expenditure-Review-Managing-Public-Finance-for-Development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31225 |
| Summary: | Guinea-Bissau is a small state in West
Africa with a population of around 1.8 million. It is rich
in natural resources (fisheries, forestry and agriculture)
and biodiversity. Economic activity is, however, dominated
by the production and sale of unprocessed cashew, which is
also the main source of income for more than two thirds of
households. Guinea-Bissau is host to a large variety of
ethnic groups, languages and religions, with communal and
ethnic-based violence remaining low. The country has a
history of political and institutional fragility dating back
to its independence from Portugal in 1973. Since
independence, four successful coups have been recorded, with
another 16 coups attempted, plotted, or alleged. Political
fragility has been manifesting itself in frequent government
turnover. Political instability has been responsible for
large drops in output and government expenditure. After
almost three years of political gridlock, a new consensus
government came to power in April 2018. In sum,
Guinea-Bissau has been caught in a vicious cycle of poor
governance, fragmented elites, weak public sector capacity,
and a poorly diversified economy. The objective of the
Guinea-Bissau Public Expenditure Review (PER) is to analyze
government expenditure, fiscal revenue, and public financial
management in selected sectors (education, health, and
security). The PER is a follow-up to the World Bank’s (2017)
Public Expenditure Analysis that provided an overall review
of public finances in Guinea-Bissau (see Annex I). It
contains a wide range of analyses, with some chapters
examining public spending trends and outcomes, while others
are more process oriented and place a strong emphasis on PFM
systems, at macro- and micro-levels. The education and
health chapters go beyond the confines of traditional World
Bank PERs—namely the efficiency, effectiveness, and equity
of spending. Both of these chapters also review the PFM
systems in the respective line ministries with a view to
identifying options for reform. Further, the PER analyzes
the fiscal implications of continuing to spend over 15
percent of the budget on the security sector and nearly 9
percent of GDP on wage and nonwage compensation. |
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