Task Force on Public Financial Management: Overview

The Task Force on Public Financial Management builds on the development community's efforts to strengthen developing countries' capacity to better manage their public finances. It looks for ways in which it might more effectively support country efforts, in particular, by bringing together development partners and country authorities to:

• foster good practices in implementing PFM reforms  
• harmonise the measurement of PFM performance 
• share knowledge and experiences among development partners and countries on using country PFM systems 
• strengthen accountability in PFM systems
  

Find out more about the Task Force on Public Financial Management

The Task Force on Public Financial Management Products

Benefits of Using Country PFM Systems

These policy briefs outline the benefits of using country PFM Systems and are for the following audiences :

• aid effectiveness community
• oversight institutions
• sector specialists

The Practitioner’s Guide determines different approaches by donors on the use of country systems in different country contexts (middle income, low income, fragile states); for different components (planning, budgeting, accounting, auditing); and for different aid modalities (budget support, project support). The Guide sets out a number of recommendations on Using Country Systems which informed the recommendations in the Manila Consensus on PFM.

Practitioner’s Guide to Strengthening Country PFM Systems

The Practitioner’s Guide to Strengthening Country PFM Systems outlines both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ practices in how donors support Capacity Development in Public Financial Management and outlines expectations from countries for donor support to their capacity development efforts in PFM. The guide is based on case study evidence (Mali, Rwanda, Lesotho, Nepal, Morocco) on different ways in which donors approach capacity development in PFM to strengthen a country’s sustainable development. Based on this evidence, the Practitioner’s Guide outlines a number of recommendations and approaches to responding to capacity development demand from countries, how to design support programmes and implement capacity development in PFM.

The Practitioner's Guide to Strengthening Country Systems, Volume I

The Practitioner's Guide to Strengthening Country Systems, Volume II

The stocktake is a follow up to the 2004 Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) mapping exercise and identifies PFM analytical/diagnostic tools currently in use or in an advanced stage of development. It is both descriptive (providing an overview of the tools and how they are applied) and analytical (identifying knowledge gaps and areas where custodians of assessment tools could improve collaboration and reduce transaction costs). The stocktake provides important insights into the way that donors are using assessment tools and how they perceive that they will evolve in the future. The stocktake sets out a number of recommendations on Assessing PFM Systems and how to improve donor co-ordination and government leadership in this area.

The Guidance describes the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) community and how SAIs are currently working together internationally to help strengthen the capacity of members, and outlines ways donors can contribute to this process. In particular, the guide outlines recommendations on how donors can best support this process by working together to: develop and support long-term capacity development projects; ask SAIs to audit donor-supported projects; help raise the profile of the SAI; and utilise the results of SAI audits to help ensure that an SAI’s work is used to achieve beneficial change. The Guide also highlights the need for development partners to build stronger links to SAIs and their key stakeholders.