Vietnam - Managing Public Resources Better : Public Expenditure Review 2000, Volume 1. Main Report

Abstract

This Public Expenditure Review (PER),
 prepared jointly by the Government of Vietnam and donors,
 examines the country's public expenditure policy, and
 management, and, proposes ways to improve the results of its
 public spending program. Cross-cutting issues examined, are
 fiscal sustainability and transparency, expenditure
 management processes, and fiscal decentralization, analyzing
 public spending on agriculture, health, education, and
 transport from the perspective of growth, poverty reduction,
 and gender equity. The report identifies the following areas
 requiring action: reversing the Government's declining
 revenue share in GDP, and developing a medium-term fiscal
 outlook; improving budgetary data, and increasing the
 transparency of data and information; ensuring an effective
 process for prioritizing public expenditures; enhancing
 "pro-poor" bias of public expenditures; and,
 assessing where services can be provided by the private
 sector, to reduce the budgetary burden. Considering these
 issues, the Government can build on the extensive
 consultative process, already developed for this PER, and,
 in addition to its National Assembly, and local governments,
 consultations with civil society, and media representatives
 could also be considered by the Government.