The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste : Public Expenditure Review
The specific objectives of the Public Expenditure Review (PER) were to: increase the poverty reduction impact of the expenditure program through an emphasis on service delivery and accountability at all levels; and stimulate transparency and enhanc...
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/07/4983440/timor-leste-public-expenditure-review http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14583 |
| Summary: | The specific objectives of the Public
Expenditure Review (PER) were to: increase the poverty
reduction impact of the expenditure program through an
emphasis on service delivery and accountability at all
levels; and stimulate transparency and enhance
accountability through improved availability and
dissemination of information on expenditure issues.
Following the broad objectives laid out in the National
Development Plan (NDP), the Government of Timor-Leste has
sought to restrain expenditures at sustainable levels and
ensure that expenditure allocations are consistent with the
NDP's development priorities, giving particular
priority to basic education and health services. The core
financial management system compares favorably with that of
other low- income countries and fiduciary arrangements are
basically sound, if still incomplete, but agency level
financial management systems are often rudimentary and the
viability of the system as a whole is threatened by the
scheduled departure of key expatriate personnel.
Furthermore, improvements in agency level expenditure and
procurement planning, together with improvements in
procurement administration, will be needed if the Government
is to bring budget execution in line with appropriations and
improve service delivery. Timor-Leste faces three main
challenges in developing the civil service in the post-
Independence era: controlling the size of the civil service,
developing an appropriate pay policy, and establishing
basic, but critical, management systems. Key issues and
strategic directions in education include improving access,
efficiency, and quality will involve a combination of
supply-side and demand-side interventions. As the education
system shifts from reconstruction to longer-term
development, expenditure policy will need to focus on
aligning resources toward established policy objectives
while accommodating a gradual reduction in external
financing. Basic management systems and mechanisms for
channeling resources directly to schools will be critical if
budget execution rates are to improve. In the road transport
sector, the main challenge is to create and implement a
strategy for sustainable provision, rehabilitation and
maintenance of roads. With regard to the health sector, the
Government of Timor-Leste has made significant progress in
re-establishing health services and can now turn its
attention to operationalizing health sector strategies. A
revised service configuration recognizes financial and human
resource constraints while maximizing the percentage of the
population with access to primary health care. In general,
health sector expenditures are generally in line with sector
priorities, with hospital and specialized services spending
capped at around 40 percent of Consolidated Fund expenditures. |
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