TIRANA, January 22, 2018 - The World Bank and the Ministry of Finance and Economy presented today the latest Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Assessment for Albania. The report presents an up-to-date diagnostic of the national-level public financial management (PFM) performance. It includes a description of the changes that have taken place over the years from the previous assessment of 2011. The study was financed by EU. The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy, Erjon Luçi, Head of Cooperation in the European Delegation in Albania, Mario Mariani, the World Bank Country Manager for Albania, Maryam Salim, development partners, experts from the Ministry of Finance and Economy, State Audit Institution, INSTAT, representatives from the Parliament, Procurement Agencies, line ministries, business associations and civil society participated in the event.
The report supports Albania’s PFM reform strategy and seeks to build a shared understanding of PFM performance and those areas that require improvement. This is the third PEFA assessment for Albania undertaken at the national level. At the request of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and in close colaboration with the Government structures, this assessment has been a very comprehensive process, carried out by a team of experts from the World Bank, to support the envisaged update of the existing Government 2014-2020 PFM reform strategy. It aimed to provide input to the mid-term review of the strategy, as well as a new baseline of the PFM system performance in the country.
Overall, the report indicates that Albania has advanced in some areas such as budget credibility, elements of fiscal transparency, monitoring of expenditure arrears and procurement. The assessment also identifies the main areas requiring attention that include monitoring of extra-budgetary units, public investment management, better links between the sector strategies and budget, systematic arrears monitoring, follow up on external audit findings and a stronger role of the Parliament as a key accountability institution.
“Strengthening PFM should be a priority for Albania. Achieving the best value for money from public resources is the most effective way to improve essential public services for citizens,” said World Bank Country Manager for Albania, Maryam Salim.
Going forward, the World Bank is willing to continue to support the Government efforts to further improve its PFM systems and to provide assistance to the Government in the update of its PFM reform strategy, as needed.
