Burundi - Public Expenditure Review : Improving the Efficiency of Public Investment

Abstract

This report reviews the state of public
 expenditure in Burundi, with a focus on public investment,
 and recommends specific actions that need to be taken to
 stimulate growth and reduce poverty. Overall, the analysis
 indicates that poor performance in public expenditure and
 investment management are due to a number of factors. First,
 there is a lack of coordination among national institutions,
 and between those institutions and the donor community,
 which weakens the project selection process, implementation,
 and the integrity of procurement. Second, monitoring
 capacity is constrained by the lack of information about
 execution rates, and by inadequate audit and reporting
 mechanisms. Third, project performance is affected by
 disbursement delays and the volatility of external aid.
 Finally, in recent years, the significant increase in
 development spending has been mostly channeled toward the
 social sectors, with very limited public investment related
 to productive economic sectors such as infrastructure.