DUSHANBE, May 27, 2009, Asia-Plus – Today, a grant agreement for 5 million U.S. dollars was signed in Dushanbe between the Government of Tajikistan, represented by Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov, and the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries, represented the World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan by Chiara Bronchi, according to press service of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The grant is provided for co-financing the Public Financial Management (PFM) Modernization Project that will be implemented as a two-phase Adaptable Program Operation, supporting Tajikistan’s Public Financial Management Strategy, approved on March 20, 2009. The Program’s long-term objective is to improve effectiveness and transparency of public financial management in Tajikistan.
The Tajikistan Public Financial Management Strategy for 2009-2018 (PFM Strategy) lays out a comprehensive agenda for modernization of public financial management in Tajikistan. The immediate priority for Tajikistan is to reinforce stability, credibility, comprehensiveness and transparency of the budget. It is expected to be achieved by improving the quality of macroeconomic and fiscal forecasting, aligning borrowing with a debt management strategy, better managing fiscal risks, introducing integrated Budget Classification and Chart of Accounts, and improving adherence to the public procurement law.
The objective of the Project is to help establish basic processes for efficient and transparent management of public expenditures.
We will recall that the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on May 14 2009 approved a US$ 5 million grant for Tajikistan’s Public Financial Management Modernization Project, to be funded by the IDA. The total amount of the project is around US$ 13 million, and it will be co-funded by the Government of Tajikistan (US$ 1.3 million), a grant from the Government of Japan (US$ 0.97 million), and the Multi-donor Trust Fund financed by the UK Department of Foreign International Development (DFID) and the European Commission (US$ 5.8 million).
