Note from the Publisher: Why Public Financial Management Matters

by Robert P. Beschel

One of the most important tasks governments perform is that of mobilizing financial resources and deploying them to achieve their policies and objectives.  In the classic BBC parody of government life, Yes Minister, the consummate British bureaucrat, Sir Humphrey Appleby, once wryly observed: "the Treasury does not work out what it needs and then thinks how to raise the money.  It pitches for as much as it can get away with and then thinks how to spend it."  Read more

Governance Newsmaker Interview, H.E Jihad Azour, Former Minister of Finance, Lebanon

by Rami G. Khouri

In his Nobel Prize lecture in 1993, Douglass North put the case for governance and growth succinctly when he stated, “institutions form the incentive structure of a society and the political and economic institutions, in consequence, are the underlying determinant of economic performance.”   Read more

MENA Budget Preparation

by Mark Ahern

With a few exceptions budget preparation reform in the region is a recent development, and traditional methods dominate.  Where there is interest in reform there is often a desire to move quickly to adopt modern techniques – particularly performance budgeting. Read more

Republic of Lebanon: Government Public Financial Management Reforms

by Robert Bou Jaoude

The Government of Lebanon has historically confronted a number of important challenges that have reduced its ability to manage its finances efficiently and effectively.  The legislative framework for budget preparation andexecution is the 1963 Law of Public Accounting, which is over 45 years old and does not include any of the modern PFM practices that have been introduced by governments over the past two decades. 

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The Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network

by Arkan El Seblani and Wassim Harb

After months of planning and intensive consultations, high-level representatives from 60 governmental bodies from 17 Arab countries, including specialized anti-corruption agencies and commissions, audit bodies, inspection bodies, ministries of justice, ministries of administrative development and higher judicial councils, gathered in Amman, Jordan on 30 July 2008 to declare the establishment of the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network (ACINET). Read more