New Course on Strengthening Medium-Term Budgeting of Public Investment

In February, staff from the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department and JVI delivered a new course: Strengthening Medium-Term Budgeting of Public Investment. As countries in the region continue to prioritize infrastructure development to drive growth and tackle climate change, the course delivered timely training to support countries in improving investment outcomes. The course benefited from financial support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).  

The course received a high number of applicants and the final 26 participants selected represented 15 countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Participants were senior officials working in public investment issues in Finance Ministries and Ministries of Planning and Development.

From February 27 to March 1, the course covered a range of topics across the full spectrum of the investment life cycle:

• The macroeconomic importance of robust infrastructure governance
• The role of strategic policy and planning of investment, both nationally and sectorally
• Techniques for appraising investment projects
• Project selection
• Medium-term public investment budgeting
• Project and portfolio management
• Ex-post project review and evaluation.

In delivering these topics, the course tailored the specific material to the experience and context of the region, drawing extensively on the IMF’s Public Investment Management Assessments (PIMA) and Climate PIMAs carried out in JVI countries. The course involved a mix of lectures, country presentations and practical exercises. A notable and novel feature of the course was the piloting of the Public Investment Management Information System (PIMIS). The PIMIS is being developed by the Fiscal Affairs Department to assist countries in managing public investment processes across all aspects of the project lifecycle. 

The course evaluation proved very positive, with participants commenting on the relevance of topics, interactive nature of teaching and practical exercises and expertise of the lecturers. 

Ed Hearne, Senior Economist, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department