DUSHANBE, August 21, 2009, Asia-Plus /Victoria Naumova/ — On Friday August 21, a grant agreement for 971,000 U.S. dollars was signed in Dushanbe between the Government of Tajikistan, represented by Mr. Safarali Najmiddinov, Minister of Finance, and the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), represented by Ms. Chiara Bronchi, the World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan, according to press service of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The grant is allocated for co-financing Tajikistan’s Public Financial Management Modernization Project.
The Project 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 Public Financial Management Modernization Project is to help establish basic processes for efficient and transparent management of public expenditures. The first phase of the Project, to be implemented during 2009- 2014, will support institutional reforms, legislative and organizational changes. It will finance a substantial capacity building program, redesigning core business processes, and operational and technological improvements in public financial management. The Project will be implemented by the MoF.
The Project will be implemented in coordination with other on-going improvements in budget management, supported by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and other donors. To improve coordination of various activities, the President of Tajikistan has established a Public Financial Management Council, led by the Minister of Finance, which will be responsible for implementing the Government Public Financial Management Strategy.
The grant is part of multilateral donor support for Tajik Government’s efforts to reform the public financial management The Project is co-funded by the Government (the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development Fund or PHRD), the UK Department of Foreign International Development (DFID), the European Commission and the Swiss Government (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs or SECO), the MoF press service said
