The state-owned enterprise (SOEs) sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is struggling financially and suffering from political intervention. More than 40% of such enterprises have reported annual losses for several consecutive years in the past decade. The crisis has had important, and sometimes de-stabilizing impacts in the region. For example, heavy losses at … [Read more...] about Solving the State-Owned Enterprises Puzzle in Latin America and the Caribbean
Public Spending
Budget management: how to improve the link between budget allocation and performance results in Uruguay
Marc Robinson is one of the prominent international experts on public financial management, performance budgeting and fiscal policy. Last March he visited Uruguay with Inter-American Development Bank support, in order to assess the country´s progress in improving its budgetary system and provide recommendations to achieve a better connection between budgetary allocations and … [Read more...] about Budget management: how to improve the link between budget allocation and performance results in Uruguay
The institutional trilogy of fiscal discipline
In response to the international crisis of 2008 and the ending of the commodities super cycle (circa 2013), the countries of Latin America reacted with countercyclical policies to tackle the impacts of the global economic downturn. In fact, Latin America’s average fiscal balances deteriorated, from -0.3 percent of GDP in 2006 to -3.6 percent in 2017. Hence fiscal rules (FRs) … [Read more...] about The institutional trilogy of fiscal discipline
Data: The Main Ingredient in Public Procurement 4.0
The scene repeats itself over and over again. The end of the month arrives and you ask yourself: “How did I spend my salary so quickly? How do I make it last? What am I investing in?” If you could have all this information in one place, would you be interested in accessing it? The same thing happens to governments. They try to achieve efficient spending while at the same … [Read more...] about Data: The Main Ingredient in Public Procurement 4.0
Public Procurement: A Journey Towards the Digital Frontier
Every day we’re bombarded with buzzwords like digital economy, blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic automation, innovation, and at times we wonder what all of that has to do with us and our job as public procurement officers. But the reality is we’ve been experiencing the digital transformation for a long time. Our phone is our agenda, music player, … [Read more...] about Public Procurement: A Journey Towards the Digital Frontier