{
  "title": "Transparency, inclusivity and development needs take centre stage at the Seventh African Fiscal Forum (Nairobi, 14 and 15 February 2019)",
  "publication": "IMF News, February 15, 2019",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2019/02/15/pr1948-transparency-inclusivity-development-needs-take-centre-stage",
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  "summary": "Press Release No. 19/48",
  "publishDate": "2019-02-15",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Event overview",
      "content": "- Press Release No. 19/48\n- Date: February 15, 2019\n- Organisers: IMF’s African and Fiscal Affairs Department, the Kenyan Treasury and the European Commission\n- Location: Nairobi, Kenya\n- Purpose: Annual event bringing together senior officials from ministries responsible for finance across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to discuss fiscal challenges facing the region, share experiences, and entrench a more effective fiscal policy for the region.\n- Attendance: more than 80 participants, including officials from the finance ministries of about 30 countries and representatives from regional organisations.\n- Theme: Leveraging Fiscal Policy to Manage Risks and Support Inclusive Growth."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Opening messages and high-level priorities",
      "content": "- Abebe Selassie (director of the African Department) and Vitor Gaspar (director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF) highlighted:\n  - the need to build tax capacity; and\n  - invest in human and physical capital in a context of still muted economic growth and rising debt burdens.\n- Kenya’s Minister of Finance, Henry Rotich, stressed:\n  - using fiscal policy more actively to manage risks and support inclusive growth must not compromise economic and fiscal sustainability.\n- Félix Fernández-Shaw (director at the European Commission’s DG-DEVCO) stressed:\n  - the importance of making best use of all financial resources; and\n  - implementing reforms to improve policies and good governance."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Developmental needs and financing the SDGs",
      "content": "- Key finding from IMF analysis cited at the Forum:\n  - achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa would require on average extra annual spending of 20 percent of GDP by 2030 — more than in any other region.\n- Solutions discussed:\n  - raising government revenue by enhancing tax capacity;\n  - strengthening international taxation;\n  - limiting tax expenditures;\n  - establishing strong governance frameworks for the much-needed scaling-up of public investment; and\n  - attracting private investment."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Inclusivity and spending",
      "content": "- Central discussion: how to gear government spending to promote inclusivity.\n- Policy directions discussed:\n  - reforming subsidies and social assistance to reach those in greatest need;\n  - gender-responsive budgeting as a way for governments to promote equality between sexes and raise economic growth through fiscal and budgetary policies."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Fiscal transparency and risk management",
      "content": "- Forum view: fiscal transparency is a core component of effective fiscal and risk management.\n- Rationale: transparency in fiscal operations aids information flow and accountability, and by extension promotes good decision-making.\n- Regional progress: many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are making a significant push on fiscal transparency, using means such as IMF-supported fiscal transparency evaluations.\n\nIMF Communications Department, Press Release No. 19/48 (February 15, 2019).\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Kenya and the IMF\n- Fiscal Transparency\n- Press Releases\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2019/02/15/pr1948-transparency-inclusivity-development-needs-take-centre-stage"
    }
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    "Published: February 15, 2019",
    "Press Release No. 19/48",
    "Date: February 15, 2019",
    "Organisers: IMF’s African and Fiscal Affairs Department, the Kenyan Treasury and the European Commission",
    "Location: Nairobi, Kenya",
    "Purpose: Annual event bringing together senior officials from ministries responsible for finance across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to discuss fiscal challenges facing the region, share experiences, and entrench a more effective fiscal policy for the region.",
    "Attendance: more than 80 participants, including officials from the finance ministries of about 30 countries and representatives from regional organisations.",
    "Theme: Leveraging Fiscal Policy to Manage Risks and Support Inclusive Growth.",
    "Abebe Selassie (director of the African Department) and Vitor Gaspar (director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF) highlighted:",
    "Kenya’s Minister of Finance, Henry Rotich, stressed:",
    "Félix Fernández-Shaw (director at the European Commission’s DG-DEVCO) stressed:",
    "Key finding from IMF analysis cited at the Forum:",
    "Solutions discussed:",
    "Central discussion: how to gear government spending to promote inclusivity.",
    "Policy directions discussed:",
    "Forum view: fiscal transparency is a core component of effective fiscal and risk management.",
    "Rationale: transparency in fiscal operations aids information flow and accountability, and by extension promotes good decision-making.",
    "Regional progress: many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are making a significant push on fiscal transparency, using means such as IMF-supported fiscal transparency evaluations.",
    "[Kenya and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/KEN/index.htm)",
    "[Fiscal Transparency](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fad/trans/index.htm)",
    "[Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)",
    "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)"
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