Welcome to Financial Management!

Good financial management — whether for countries or institutions — means ensuring that funds are used appropriately.

For countries, financial management (FM) refers to the budgeting, accounting, internal control, funds flow, financial reporting, and auditing arrangements by which they receive funds, allocate them, and record their use. Good FM is important to a country’s development because it gives assurance to citizens that their taxes are being used appropriately, to donors and lenders that the funds they provide are being used appropriately, and to the private sector that there is an appropriate environment for investment and growth.

For the World Bank, FM work involves two efforts: (1) providing assurance that borrowers are using Bank-provided funds for the intended purposes, and (2) assisting countries to improve their own FM capacities. FM is therefore an integral part of the development process to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

To carry out this work, the Bank's FM Sector works at many levels:

• At the global level, participating in organizations that set FM standards and working with other donors and lenders to harmonize FM requirements and build capacity of clients;
    
• At the country level, helping countries improve FM performance based on the country's development priorities and institutional environment;
    
• In operations, ensuring that appropriate FM arrangements are in place and that the borrower complies with FM requirements in ways that maintains financial integrity, and support the development of sustainable FM capacity in client countries;
    
• On cross-cutting issues that are important for FM work at the above-mentioned levels, e.g., Governance & Anti-Corruption, and FM Harmonization; and
    
• Internally, sponsoring the World Bank policies and procedures that support this work, and improving the ability of staff to carry it out.