This post originally appeared on the World Bank’s Investing in Health Blog. Below is an excerpt from the blog.
In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), public financial management (PFM) reforms often consist of a standard set of interventions to strengthen the overall strategic allocation and accountability of public funds. They are often not sufficiently customised or responsive enough to specific country contexts, sector needs or inadvertently inhibit the reform process.
If PFM systems are meant to support financial accountability through transparency and an overall good and efficient use of resources, they can – or should – simultaneously enable adequate delivery of services and create an enabling environment for effective funding. Yet, these links are not always thought through enough in advance during the design and implementation of PFM reforms.
To address this gap, we – a group of professionals working for various international agencies at the nexus between PFM and health policy and management – want to bring a health service provider lens to the PFM discussion. Recognising that the quality and effectiveness of health service provision is closely related to how providers receive and are able to use financial resources, our goal is to promote a design and implementation of PFM reforms that reflect the role and needs of front-line service providers.
The following PFM-related challenges need to be addressed:
- Adequate planning of and access to funds
- Timely release and use of funds
- Misaligned reporting system
Read the full blog here.