Public financial management and accountability

This topic guide provides an introduction to Public Financial Management and Accountability (PFMA). PFMA encompasses government capacity to raise revenues, set spending priorities, allocate resources and to effectively manage the delivery of those resources. Effective public financial management is therefore central to governments' ability to deliver services to their citizens and to alleviate poverty. PFMA is also central to the concerns of donors, since good quality financial reporting is crucial for the effective implementation of development programmes and for accountability in the use of aid.

With more countries adopting poverty reduction strategies and with donors committing to providing more aid through budget support mechanisms, both have a shared interest in developing effective public financial management systems.

Users of this page may also find it helpful to refer to this topic guide in conjunction with that on Aid Instruments . In addition, the Decentralisation topic guide has information on Fiscal Decentralisation

Contents

The information in this topic guide is arranged around the following areas:

Policy process

Tax policy and administration

Public expenditure management

Socially responsive budgeting

For more documents on any of the topics listed here, please do a 'free text' search on the GRC Exchange Information Database

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