Public finance tops West AFRITAC's agenda

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With 8 of the 10 countries served by West AFRITAC being members of the West African Economic and

Monetary Union (WAEMU), there are some special considerations for technical assistance that distinguish West AFRITAC, based in Bamako, Mali, from East AFRITAC, its counterpart in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. While monetary policy and bank supervision feature prominently in the work of East AFRITAC, there is more of an emphasis on public finances in West AFRITAC. Three of that center's six resident advisors specialize in public finance, and a fourth advisor specializes in government finance statistics. This is because fiscal policy is the centerpiece of the adjustment programs in the WAEMU countries, which have relinquished the ability to conduct an independent monetary policy. The bulk of the center's activities so far has concentrated on strengthening public expenditure management and fiscal and customs administrations, and on improving government finance statistics.

Maintaining priorities

Like its counterpart in East Africa, West AFRITAC intends to maintain the priorities it set in 2003 and largely build on activities begun toward the end of the year, grouped broadly under fiscal administration, public expenditure management, debt management and financial markets, supervision of microfinance institutions, customs administration, and statistics. For example, center staff will visit Burkina Faso and other countries to help strengthen capacity for fiscal administration and budget management.

In the coming months, the center will help Benin and Guinea define the institutional responsibilities for the different agencies involved in debt management. Mauritania will receive help in undertaking a diagnostic of the computerized system of debt management. Specific technical assistance missions intended to follow up on earlier recommendations for customs administration are scheduled for Benin, Guinea- Bissau, and Togo. And, in collaboration with the Bamako-based Economic and Statistical Observatory for Sub-Saharan Africa (AFRISTAT), the center will undertake a number of activities associated with improving real sector statistics.

Under the work plan for this year, the center's experts will conduct regional workshops on a broad range of topics, including fighting tax and customs fraud and evasion, computerizing customs administration, managing program...