Well Spent: How Strong Infrastructure Governance Can End Waste in Public Investment

Books, September 3, 2020

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Well Spent: How Strong Infrastructure Governance Can End Waste in Public Investment

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Bibliographic details

• Published: September 3, 2020
• Series: Books
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513511818.071

Overview and scope

• Drawing on the Fund’s analytical and capacity development work, including Public Investment Management Assessments (PIMAs) carried out in more than 60 countries, the book addresses how countries can attain quality infrastructure outcomes through better infrastructure governance.
• The topic is emphasized as increasingly important in the context of the Great Lockdown and its economic consequences.

Major themes and substantive findings

• Infrastructure investment and Sustainable Development Goals:
  • Examines the relationship between infrastructure investment and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Controlling corruption:
  • Addresses mechanisms and governance measures to reduce corruption in public investment.
• Managing fiscal risks:
  • Focuses on identifying and containing fiscal risks associated with public infrastructure projects.
• Integrating planning and budgeting:
  • Highlights the need to better integrate infrastructure planning with budgeting processes to improve outcomes.
• Project appraisal and selection:
  • Identifies best practices in project appraisal and selection to improve investment quality and reduce waste.
• Asset maintenance and management:
  • Covers emerging areas such as maintaining and managing public infrastructure assets to preserve value and service delivery.
• Building resilience against climate change:
  • Considers how infrastructure governance can incorporate resilience to climate change.

Policy recommendations and governance priorities

• Strengthen infrastructure governance frameworks to improve investment quality and reduce waste.
• Use diagnostic tools such as PIMAs to identify weaknesses in public investment management and target capacity development.
• Integrate planning, budgeting, and project appraisal processes to ensure that selected projects are fiscally sustainable and aligned with development priorities.
• Implement anticorruption measures and transparency practices across the project lifecycle.
• Prioritize maintenance and asset management alongside new investment to sustain service delivery and protect public value.
• Incorporate climate resilience into project design and asset management to reduce long-run costs and fiscal risks.