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Strategic & Sector Policy Management

The experience with the first round of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) has highlighted the importance of strengthening of macro and sectoral strategic planning processes in many transition and developing countries. This has been accompanied by the recognition of the need to avoid the pitfalls of previous approaches to national development planning which had been aspirational rather than realistic, had emphasised public spending rather than policy actions, were overly focused on investment and aid-financed projects, and had covered a fixed rather than a rolling planning period.

At the same time, the experience of introducing MTEFs has emphasised the importance of establishing a credible macroeconomic and fiscal framework within which budget planning can take place and also of establishing robust sector policy frameworks that can be used to drive the allocation of public resources. Weaknesses in sector level policy planning and management capacities have significantly undermined the effectiveness of many MTEF initiatives in bringing about a more policy-led and better prioritised approach to budget planning.

In a number of countries, particularly the transition economies of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia, these concerns are leading to the introduction of a rolling national development strategy approach that provides for the annual review and updating of the government's strategy which in turn is closely linked to the rolling forward of the MTEF. A focus of recent reforms has been on strengthening the role of the 'centre of government' in managing strategy development and coordination. These reforms have also emphasised stronger political-level participation in the planning and budgeting process and strengthened involvement of civil society.

Recent international studies have emphasised the impact of severe infrastructure constraints on economic development. This has led to renewed interested in strengthening systems for infrastructure investment planning and management and to ensuring that more adequate financial provision is made for infrastructure maintenance.

Mokoro Experience

Mokoro has assisted governments in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the CIS with economic policy and sector strategy development at country and sub-national level over many years. Our preferred approach is to work with national officials in developing robust procedures for strategy development and coordination, and to provide hands-on guidance and technical support with the introduction of new systems and procedures. At the heart of our approach is the concept that government policies and programmes need to reflect an understanding of the appropriate role of government, that the private sector and civil society have important contributions to make, and that a realistic assessment of available resources is essential to the credibility of economic policy and strategy frameworks.

Our recent work has included support to National Development Plan preparation in Botswana, assistance in the preparation of the National Development Strategy and Plan in Kosovo, and advice on the institutional development arrangements for the Palestinian Recovery Programme. We have also assisted PRSP preparation in Sierra Leone and Moldova, PRSP monitoring in Ethiopia, and the annual performance review of Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). At sector level our consultants have been involved in initiatives to strengthen policy and budget linkage in the health sectors in the Maldives and in Jordan, in a review of the education sector development plan in Ethiopia, in linking planning and budgeting processes for the agriculture sector in Georgia, and in the design of an aid instrument to support education decentralisation in Ethiopia.

MTEFs and public investment management initiatives bring together PFM systems development and strategy development processes. Mokoro has worked on MTEF development and review exercises in more than a dozen countries, most recently in Bangladesh, Georgia, Jordan, the Maldives and Moldova. Studies on strengthening public investment have recently been undertaken in Moldova, Kosovo and Serbia. We have also carried out economic and financial analysis of rural roads and water supply investments.