Public Investment Management Bottlenecks in Low-income Countries

Public Investment Management Bottlenecks in Low-income Countries
Author: Khaled Eltokhy
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 31
Release: 2024-11
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper uses principal component analysis (PCA) to identify bottlenecks to effective public investment management in LIDCs. The paper describes the current state of affairs regarding public investment and public investment management in LIDCs, drawing on the results of IMF Public Investment Management Assessments (PIMAs). PCA is used to analyze which public investment institutions are likely to be most important for investment efficiency estimates across the countries covered by PIMAs so far. Drawing on alternative input data, we identify five PIMA institutions that are systematically highly correlated to estimates of public investment efficiency in LIDCs and are likely to be high priorities in many PIM reform processes: Project management, Project appraisal, Procurement, Availability of funding, and Project selection. This does not mean that these five are the only important institutions – this will depend on country circumstances. The practical steps to strengthen PIM in LIDCs are elaborated in a separate How-to-Note.

Investing in Public Investment

Investing in Public Investment
Author: Mr.Chris Papageorgiou
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2011-02-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1455217891

This paper introduces a new index that captures the institutional environment underpinning public investment management across four different stages: project appraisal, selection, implementation, and evaluation. Covering 71 countries, including 40 low-income countries, the index allows for benchmarking across regions and country groups and for nuanced policy-relevant analysis and identification of specific areas where reform efforts could be prioritized. Potential research venues are outlined.

World Development Report 1994

World Development Report 1994
Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1994
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780195209921

World Development Report 1994 examines the link between infrastructure and development and explores ways in which developing countries can improve both the provision and the quality of infrastructure services. In recent decades, developing countries have made substantial investments in infrastructure, achieving dramatic gains for households and producers by expanding their access to services such as safe water, sanitation, electric power, telecommunications, and transport. Even more infrastructure investment and expansion are needed in order to extend the reach of services - especially to people living in rural areas and to the poor. But as this report shows, the quantity of investment cannot be the exclusive focus of policy. Improving the quality of infrastructure service also is vital. Both quantity and quality improvements are essential to modernize and diversify production, help countries compete internationally, and accommodate rapid urbanization. The report identifies the basic cause of poor past performance as inadequate institutional incentives for improving the provision of infrastructure. To promote more efficient and responsive service delivery, incentives need to be changed through commercial management, competition, and user involvement. Several trends are helping to improve the performance of infrastructure. First, innovation in technology and in the regulatory management of markets makes more diversity possible in the supply of services. Second, an evaluation of the role of government is leading to a shift from direct government provision of services to increasing private sector provision and recent experience in many countries with public-private partnerships is highlighting new ways to increase efficiency and expand services. Third, increased concern about social and environmental sustainability has heightened public interest in infrastructure design and performance.

Debt Sustainability, Public Investment, and Natural Resources in Developing Countries

Debt Sustainability, Public Investment, and Natural Resources in Developing Countries
Author: Mr.Giovanni Melina
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 77
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1475521073

This paper presents the DIGNAR (Debt, Investment, Growth, and Natural Resources) model, which can be used to analyze the debt sustainability and macroeconomic effects of public investment plans in resource-abundant developing countries. DIGNAR is a dynamic, stochastic model of a small open economy. It has two types of households, including poor households with no access to financial markets, and features traded and nontraded sectors as well as a natural resource sector. Public capital enters production technologies, while public investment is subject to inefficiencies and absorptive capacity constraints. The government has access to different types of debt (concessional, domestic and external commercial) and a resource fund, which can be used to finance public investment plans. The resource fund can also serve as a buffer to absorb fiscal balances for given projections of resource revenues and public investment plans. When the fund is drawn down to its minimal value, a combination of external and domestic borrowing can be used to cover the fiscal gap in the short to medium run. Fiscal adjustments through tax rates and government non-capital expenditures—which may be constrained by ceilings and floors, respectively—are then triggered to maintain debt sustainability. The paper illustrates how the model can be particularly useful to assess debt sustainability in countries that borrow against future resource revenues to scale up public investment.

Public Investment and Fiscal Policy - Lessons From the Pilot Country Studies

Public Investment and Fiscal Policy - Lessons From the Pilot Country Studies
Author: International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2005-01-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498331637

This paper reports on findings from eight pilot country studies on public investment that were carried out during the second half of 2004. The pilot country studies covered a diverse group of countries. Specifically, they included countries in Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru), Africa (Ethiopia and Ghana), the Middle East (Jordan), and Asia (India).

Mastering the Risky Business of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure

Mastering the Risky Business of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure
Author: Manal Fouad
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 61
Release: 2021-05-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513576569

Investment in infrastructure can be a driving force of the economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of shrinking fiscal space. Public-private partnerships (PPP) bring a promise of efficiency when carefully designed and managed, to avoid creating unnecessary fiscal risks. But fiscal illusions prevent an understanding the sources of fiscal risks, which arise in all infrastructure projects, and that in PPPs present specific characteristics that need to be addressed. PPP contracts are also affected by implicit fiscal risks when they are poorly designed, particularly when a government signs a PPP contract for a project with no financial sustainability. This paper reviews the advantages and inconveniences of PPPs, discusses the fiscal illusions affecting them, identifies a diversity of fiscal risks, and presents the essentials of PPP fiscal risk management.

Public Investment Management Reference Guide

Public Investment Management Reference Guide
Author: Jay-Hyung Kim
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2020-03-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464815291

The Public Investment Management (PIM) Reference Guide aims to convey country experiences and good international practices as a basis for decisions on how to address a country-specific PIM reform agenda. The country references are drawn largely from previous diagnostics and technical assistance reports of the World Bank. The application of country diagnostics and assessments has revealed a need to address the following issues when undertaking a country reform in PIM: • Clarification of the definition and scope of public investment and public investment management • Establishment of a sound legal, regulatory, and institutional setting for PIM, making sure it is linked to the budget process • Allocation of roles and responsibilities for key players in PIM across government • Strengthening of guidance on project preappraisal, appraisal, and selection-prioritization procedures and deepening of project appraisal methodologies • Integration of strategic planning, project appraisal-selection, and capital budgeting • Management of multiyear capital budget allocations and commitments • Efforts to address effective implementation, procurement, and monitoring of projects • Strengthening of asset management and ex post evaluation • Integration of PIM and public-private partnership (PPP) in a unified framework • Rationalization and prioritization of the existing PIM project portfolio • Development of a PIM database and information technology in the form of a PIM information system. The PIM Reference Guide does not seek to provide definitive answers or standard guidance for the common PIM issues facing countries. Nor does it seek to provide a detailed template for replication across countries: this would be impossible given the diversity of country situations. Instead, each chapter begins with an overview of the specific reform issue, lists approaches and experiences from different countries, and summarizes the references and good practices to be considered in designing country-specific reform actions.

On the Capacity to Absorb Public Investment: How Much is Too Much?

On the Capacity to Absorb Public Investment: How Much is Too Much?
Author: Daniel Gurara
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2020-02-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513529986

While expanding public investment can help filling infrastructure bottlenecks, scaling up too much and too fast often leads to inefficient outcomes. This paper rationalizes this outcome looking at the association between cost inflation and public investment in a large sample of road construction projects in developing countries. Consistent with the presence of absorptive capacity constraints, our results show a non-linear U-shaped relationship between public investment and project costs. Unit costs increase once public investment is close to 10% of GDP. This threshold is lower (about 7% of GDP) in countries with low investment efficiency and, in general, the effect of investment scaling up on costs is especially strong during investment booms.

How to Manage Public Investment During a Postcrisis Recovery

How to Manage Public Investment During a Postcrisis Recovery
Author: Mr. Richard I Allen
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2021-07-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513584413

Public investment is likely to be an important component of any postcrisis recovery program. As countries work to ensure a smart, green, fair recovery, investing in modern, resilient, and efficient infrastructure assets will be key. This How to Note discusses how countries should manage public investments to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and similar crises. It provides countries with guidance on making efficient use of public investment to support economic recovery on three different capacity levels: basic, medium, and advanced.

Private Finance for Development

Private Finance for Development
Author: Hilary Devine
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2021-05-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513571567

The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the tension between large development needs in infrastructure and scarce public resources. To alleviate this tension and promote a strong and job-rich recovery from the crisis, Africa needs to mobilize more financing from and to the private sector.