2013 was a very positive year for the project as it met all its annual targets. The Public Finance Management (PFM) capacity of the MoF has been considerably improved over the past 2 years, demonstrated by the latest PEFA assessment, which ranked the MoF higher than other fragile and even Middle Income Countries, in terms of public expenditure management capacity. 

Other major achievements of 2013 included the 57% budget execution rate, the impressive OBI score of 59%, the substantial improvements of most of the PEFA assessment dimensions and the progress towards monitoring the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF) commitments related to PFM and aid effectiveness and management. The record high 57% budget execution rate was also one of the prime examples of capacity gains and a proof that UNDP investments in capacity development are paying off gradually in the long run. 

Since the beginning of this year, the project has achieved all its targets under output 1 but has only made small incremental steps under outputs 2 and 3 because, mostly, of funding issues and uncertainties over this quarter, impacting on the level of support to the MoF as well as on the project experts’ motivations. 

Overall, the project is supporting the national budget process and cycle which is critical for the MoF. The project experts notably revised the BC I and BC II instructions over this quarter, expected to improve the budget execution rate and to streamline the budget execution process. In addition, it technically supported the publication of the Citizens Budget and has been supporting LMs with the budget allotment process. 

In terms of coordination of external assistance, under output 2, the project made substantial steps, in collaboration with the UNDP Country Office, on the Busan New Deal implementation, and above all greatly contributed to reaching an agreement between the development partners and the MoF on the on-budget and alignment guidelines of the AMP. This is a huge step forward in the monitoring of the TMAF priorities and in the mapping of priority areas for the GoIRA in relation to donors’ alignment. 

Regarding capacity development, the project experts delivered training courses to 609 MoF and LMs representatives over this quarter in PFM reforms but the project does not have a coordinated approach towards capacity development any longer. 

The future of the project is uncertain as it depends on potential donors’ funding commitment. This issue is at the core of the project key stakeholders and partners priorities as it can undermine all the previous gains, achievements and contributions of the project towards strengthening the MoF capacity.