The World Bank announced that it has approved a $34m project to help restore the core fiscal management functions of the public administration in Lebanon. The Fiscal Management Project aims to support the mobilization of domestic revenues, as well as the allocation  and use of public resources. It pointed out that the project aims to restore the basic functions of public financial management by improving  revenue administration through enhanced tax compliance, providing training and capacity building for the implementation of the customs  law, and upgrading the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) capacity of the tax and customs systems. It indicated that the  project also aims to restore fiscal controls by strengthening the budget's preparation, regularizing fiscal reporting, processing public pay-ments on time, and reinstating critical IT functions for core public financial management. It added that the project will further strengthen  the oversight and accountability capacity of the Court of Accounts and the Central Inspection Administration, enhance the capacity building functions of the Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, and train public procurement specialists.  Further, it said that a share of the disbursements will be linked to specific results or performance-based outcome. It noted that a portion  of the project funds can be used towards incentivizing critical staff at the Ministry of Finance, the Court of Accounts, and the Central Inspection Administration upon the successful implementation of certain objectives and targets, such as the timely preparation of the  budget, the effective administration of revenues; the efficiency of customs; timely and accurate fiscal reporting; timely government payments of dues; and the timely audits and verification of the wage bill. It noted that it selected the performance-based conditions because  of their importance in restoring core public financial management functions and in enhancing accountability and transparency.  In addition, it indicated that the World Bank is extending a loan of $28.5m and the Lebanon Financing Facility (LFF) is providing a  grant of $5.5m to cover the project's cost. It said that the project will allocate $14.1m for ICT systems including hardware, software, licenses, and maintenance, as well as $12.3m over three years to disbursements that are linked to performance-based results. It noted that  the remaining amount will be earmarked to investments in green energy and other critical technical assistance and capacity-building activities. The LFF is a five-year multi-donor trust fund that the World Bank, the United Nations and the European Union established in  December 2020 to pool grant resources and coordinate financing in support of the immediate socioeconomic recovery of vulnerable  people and businesses impacted by the explosion at the Port of Beirut. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said there are options to help reverse the decline in revenue administration. It added that the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Development Program and Expertise France have pledged to provide support, while the IMF has  launched a capacity development project. At the tax administration level, it called for urgent intervention in the short term to ensure the  continuity of critical functions such as IT operations, adjusting the wages of staff, improving the basic work environment, and expediting  the introduction of a semi-autonomous tax administration. At the customs administration level, it urged short-term action to ensure the  continuity of critical functions and to provide adequate wages for staff; request international support to review the potential increase and  use of customs service fees to support the modernization of tax and customs; as well as review the proposed capacity development planfor customs administration. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Byblos Bank, February 12-17, 2024