Bhutan Medium Term Expenditure Training (MTEF)
The International Studies Program at the Andrew Young School designed and provided an in-country training program on Public Budgeting and Fiscal Management for central and local government officials from Bhutan during summer 2004. The program addressed fiscal decentralization, changing patterns in expenditure and identifying expenditure needs and revenue pressures, the importance of fiscal architecture, cost analysis and debt and capital budgeting. Two separate programs were designed and delivered during the three week training program, which included one two-week training program for the government finance officers in public budgeting and fiscal management at Georgia State University and a one-week public expenditure management workshop focusing on Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
Public budgeting and fiscal management are very important fiscal tools in the public sector and in order to achieve the three objectives of fiscal management (aggregate fiscal discipline, expenditure prioritization, and operational efficiency) modern fiscal management techniques need to be introduced at all levels of government. With the goal of improving the technical capacity of central and local governments, the two-week public budgeting and fiscal management exposed this group of officials from Bhutan to the latest developments in the field of modern public expenditure management. In the two-week training program topic-driven lectures, seminars and roundtable discussions were supplemented with site-visits and projects. With the help of policy experts at Georgia State University including Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Roy Bahl, participants received hands on experience in applying the latest financial management tools and techniques.
The one-week Public Expenditure Management workshop that took place in Washington, DC focused Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs) and rolling budgets. The workshop also focused on key public expenditure issues in Bhutan, risks and opportunities in budgeting, highlighting how an MTEF can contribute to mitigating risks,and developing potential steps that would further the process, including a sequence of actions which could be taken in the short-term.
The workshop which was organized jointly by the Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and the World Bank South East Asia group emphasized hands-on assistance with formal presentations, analytical work, and written reports. These sessions were led by Mark Rider, and Associate Professor of Economics at the Andrew Young School and World Bank Economist, Christian Eigen-Zucchi.
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