Conclusion of the five day seminar on medium trer budget framework and fiscal planning in West Africa. MTFF and MTFB have constributed to strengthen the budget preparation process. However these tools are not sufficient to ensure fiscal discipline and budget credibility that remains an issue across the region. The solution is the coordination of fiscal planning reforms with other reforms.

1. Workshop on Medium-term Budget Frameworks
Accra, 2 – 6 June 2014
Medium Term Budget Frameworks:
Lessons Learnt from the Seminar

2. Diagnostic of the current situation
• All countries of the region have put in place
sequenced Medium Term Frameworks with
mix results
• Fiscal reporting is already in place but
quality of information remains an issue.
• All countries are progressing toward better
fiscal transparency but the role of civil
society in budgetary discussions remains
limited.
• The main PFM issues in the region remain
fiscal discipline and budget credibility 2

3. Main achievements
• All countries are producing MTFFs and use
them to allocate budget ceilings.
• Pre-Budget Reports are in place.
• Significant investments have been made in
capacity development.
• Quality of reporting and budget transparency
is improving.
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4. Main benefits from MTBFs
All countries of the region report that MTFs
have delivered intermediate gains:
• MTFs are catalysts for better planning and
priority of expenditures.
• Budgets are already more policy driven
• PBP have simplified the budgetary debate
• Sector ceilings are in place and accepted by
MDAs
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5. Remaining weaknesses in the MTF
programming process
• Macroeconomic data are lacking in quality with an
impact on the reliability of projections;
• The high level of vulnerability of the local economies
make them very vulnerable to endogenous and
exogenous chocks.
• Revenue forecasting remains difficult.
• Linkage between the budgets and MTFs remains
weak.
• Sector strategies remain weak and difficult to
implement.
• MTEF are still missing but are probably premature.
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6. Fiscal discipline and budget credibility
A sound fiscal planning process is not enough
to establish budget credibility. Other factors
should be taken into consideration such as:
• Adjustment of the budget calendar + budget
analysis
• Cash management
• Better information on planned expenditures
• Commitment control
• Better budget execution processes
• Monitoring of arrears
• Better reporting………………….AND………
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7. 7
STRONG POLITICAL COMMITMENT !!!

8. The way forward
• Keep improving the quality of fiscal
planning
• Link introduction of MTFs to other
budget reforms
• Consider the role of fiscal rules, budget
norms, sub-ceiling etc.
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9. Last recommendations
• Don’t move to bottom-up budgeting before top-down
budgeting is successfully implemented.
• Don’t move to full program based budgeting before
budget credibility is established.
• Don’t move to program budgeting before line item
budgeting has been trim down and successful.
• DoN’t integrate sector planning in the budgeting
process before national planning is fully integrated.
• Control inputs before seeking to control outputs
• Budget for work to be done before budgeting for
results to be achieved.
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