High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
The High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Report series provides high-level summaries of the assistance provided to IMF capacity development recipients, describing the high-level objectives, findings, and recommendations.
2024
February 28, 2024
Uganda: PFM Climate Assessment: Public Investment and Fiscal Risks Management
Description: Uganda has committed to an ambitious climate change mitigation and adaption agenda. To achieve this, the country has developed a sound framework to enhance climate change sensitivity across public financial and public investment management. The framework clearly allocates responsibilities, enhances coordination, and requires the identification of climate expenses in the budget documentation. However, gaps remain in some key regulations, primarily on project appraisal, and some initiatives are in early stages of implementation and need further guidance and training. The Climate Public Investment Management Assessment proposes reforms across multiple areas, underscoring as priority areas project appraisal and selection, and budgeting and portfolio management.
February 13, 2024
Report on Government Finance & Public Sector Debt Statistics Technical Assistance: Egypt, Arab Republic of
Description: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Statistics Department (STA) and Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) provided technical assistance (TA) on government finance statistics (GFS) and public sector debt statistics (PSDS) to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of the Arab Republic of Egypt during July 4–17, 2023. This was the first such mission since 2017 and the focus was on assisting the Egyptian MOF to identify the necessary processes and systems required to facilitate the production of high-quality fiscal statistics, compliant with the latest international statistical standards (as per the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014) both with respect to coverage and presentation.
February 13, 2024
Report on Government Finance Statistics Technical Assistance: Republic of Serbia
Description: In 2022, Serbia introduced a new budget system law with fiscal rules based on general government, as defined in the international statistical standards. The Serbian Ministry of Finance is committed to upgrading their fiscal reporting so as to report against these fiscal rules by 2025. Against this background, the International Monetary Fund’s Statistics Department has provided technical assistance during 2022 and 2023 to assist the MOF to extend and improve their monthly government finance statistics, in accordance with the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014, to cover all materially significant general government units.
February 5, 2024
South Sudan: Strengthening Budget Execution
Description: Public financial management reforms in the Government of South Sudan are proceeding within a challenging environment as the post-civil war recovery remains fragile. As a result, the Ministry of Finance and Planning faces significant challenges in preparing realistic budgets and enforcing disciplined budget execution. To strengthen budget execution, the key areas requiring reform include strengthening processes for the management of expenditure and controlling commitments; improving fiscal reporting to ensure it is timely, accurate, and comprehensive; and improved cash management, particularly through implementing a Treasury Single Account. The Government has requested the assistance of a Fiscal Affairs Department Resident Public Financial Management Advisor who has been appointed and will support several reforms to budget execution, cash management, and fiscal reporting.
February 5, 2024
Angola: Modernization of Income Taxation
Description: A capacity development mission of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) of the IMF visited Luanda, during the period November 6-17, 2023, to provide advice on tax policy and administration reforms to modernize and improve the income tax system. The mission recommended moving from a highly fragmented toward a more unified approach to taxation of income, with all labor income aggregated over the year and taxed under a common progressive tax schedule. The mission pointed to opportunities for improving income taxes compliance approaches, including through the development of capacities to manage tax incentives and international tax risks.
January 30, 2024
Bangladesh: Ministry of Finance Macroeconomic Framework Technical Assistance: Scoping Mission Report
Description: The Finance Division (FD) of the MoF has sought Macroeconomic Framework Technical Assistance from ICD and SARTTAC to support them in improving their Medium-term Macroeconomic Framework. A scoping mission was held in Dhaka in January 2023 to diagnose the FD’s current forecasting and policy analysis systems and to agree on a multi-year action plan. The project action plan is centered around the customization of the Macroframework Foundations Tool (MFT), which will support the FD in overcoming significant limitations in their current approach. This note summarizes the main findings and action plan agreed on for the project.
January 8, 2024
Jordan: Health Spending Efficiency: Issues and Reform Directions
Description: This report reviews Jordan’s public health expenditure and develops options to enhance spending efficiency that support the government’s health and fiscal consolidation efforts. The particular focus of the mission was to provide support on: (1) overall health spending analysis, (2) support country efforts to develop and implement an affordable path to expand health coverage, (3) identify areas where the Ministry of Finance can build capacity and support reform efforts.
2023
December 5, 2023
Lebanon: Tax and Customs Administration: An Urgent Need for Intervention
Description: This summary provides an overview of guidance provided to Lebanon’s Ministry of Finance, its VAT and Revenue Directorates, and the Lebanese Customs Administration. Building on prior IMF advice, it conveys an urgent need for intervention to address loss of staff and a risk of failure with key IT operations in the respective agencies. Separately, the accompanying technical assistance report provides confirmation of broader reform and capacity development priorities for the next 36 months.
December 4, 2023
Republic of Kosovo: Public Investment Management Assessment Update and Climate PIMA
Description: Kosovo is working to improve its public investment management to support future economic growth and improvements in wellbeing. This assessment applies the IMF Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) framework, including the Climate-PIMA module. It finds that there have been improvements in Kosovo’s public investment management institutions since the original 2015 PIMA assessment. Nonetheless, there is room to continue to strengthen public investment management institutions and their climate sensitivity in Kosovo
November 13, 2023
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Climate Public Investment Management Assessment
Description: Mauritania is working to improve its public investment management framework to boost the efficiency of public investment and to make it more adaptable to climate change. support future economic growth and improvements in wellbeing. This assessment applies the IMF Climate Public Investment Management Assessment (CPIMA) framework and updates an earlier Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) undertaken in 2020. It finds that there have been improvements in Mauritania’s public investment management institutions since 2020, while room remains for further improvement. Like most other countries, Mauritania is at an early stage of incorporating climate aspects into public investment management. Nevertheless, some good progress has been made, notably on the planning side. This assessment provides a progressive timetable for reforms, based on international good practice, striking a balance between the stated objectives of the authorities and the existing capacities within the public administration.