Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER FOUR: ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT__________________________________________________________________________Figure 4.2: Macroeconomic indicatorsMacroeconomic indicators86420-2-4-6-8-101998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Benin: Deficit of the current account (% GDP) (left scale)Benin: Budget deficit outside grants (% GDP) (left scale)Benin: Inflation (%) (left scale)Benin: Gross international reserves (US $ mn) (right scale)1 0009008007006005004003002001000450. In the same vein, and although this is not mentioned in the CSAR, the CRMalso noted the efforts made by the government to establish programme budgetsin the various sectors. The CRM noted the budget support given bydevelopment partners to support the implementation of the GPRS. Indeed,since Benin completed the implementation of the GPRS under the HIPCInitiative, its implementation has benefited from four budget supportprogrammes between 2003 and 2006. Benin fulfils the general preconditionswith regard to the budget support guidelines. These are: (i) political andeconomic stability and the government‟s commitment to adopt theDevelopment Budget Support Loan (DBSL) approach; and (ii) the technicalprerequisites relating mainly to the fiduciary framework and the establishmentof MTEFs. Indeed, Benin has made significant progress in the establishmentof MTEFs. These frameworks, which describe the programmes in each sector,are based on the pillars of the GPRS and are implemented using a resultsbasedapproach. However, the capacities within the technical ministries –particularly in the programmes and projects departments and publicprocurement units – should be strengthened.451. In Benin, public expenditure management still faces constraints in establishingbudgetary and accounting management, and in the reform of internal andexternal audits and the public procurement system. These constitute the mainareas of reform for results-based management. This reform has been retardedmainly because of low human and institutional capacity. There are still someinadequacies, particularly with regard to disparities in the mastery of newtools, the decentralised procedures for preparing overall budgets, and themonitoring-evaluation systems in the sector ministries. With regard to budgetimplementation, SIGFIP is still far from being efficient, since investments162