A Global Consultation
At the heart of the project is a set of stakeholder conversations to gather feedback on the proposed approach and promote an open discussion on the broader state of public financial management reforms. The global conversation on Reimagining Public Finance will culminate with a Global Conference that will take place on 29-30 September 2025.
By then, more than 25 consultations will have been conducted, reaching over 700 people either face to face or online. The consultations have engaged a wide variety of stakeholders across all the regions in the world, including practitioners, government officials, finance ministers, donors, international organizations, academics, think tank scholars, civil society organizations, and parliamentarian networks, among others. These consultations have made it possible to discuss the lessons learned in regard to the last 25 years of public financial management (PFM) reform, as well as to reflect on the questions of what is the role of public finance in relation to development goals and what are the main PFM bottlenecks for this, and finally, on the way forward, provide inputs in regard to the robustness, clarity and relevance of the proposed analytical approach.
The Conference
The Global Conference on "Reimagining Public Finance: Making Public Resources Work for Development Outcomes" is scheduled to take place on September 29-30, 2025, at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.
The conference will bring together leading government reformers, practitioners, researchers, and development partners to share insights and discuss the future direction of public finance reforms. The ‘Reimagining Public Finance’ initiative aims to provide a forum to rethink PFM reforms and ensure that they are designed and implemented in a way that best supports governments’ fiscal and public policy objectives and the achievement of development outcomes.
The conference will be based on three key questions:
Why reimagine public finance? A reflection on lessons learned over the last 25 years of public financial management reform.
What is the role of public finance in achieving development outcomes and what are the key PFM bottlenecks that prevent this from happening?
How can these PFM bottlenecks be addressed in practice to unlock the potential of public finance?
The conference will provide the opportunity to engage with these questions, drawing from the first phase of research and global consultation, and interacting with a proposed outcome-led approach for future public finance reforms.
To find out more visit the event page
Join the Conversation
There are many ways to join the conversation. Comment on one of the blogs relating to the initiative. Join the community for news and events here. Email the team directly at ReimaginingPFM@worldbank.org with your feedback.
