BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 21. On May 21, Anar Karimov, First Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan, met with a delegation led by Fabienne Mroczka, Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank, and discussed cooperation in the field of public financial management and results-oriented budgeting mechanisms, Trend reports, citing the Ministry of Finance.
Meanwhile, the meeting addressed the implementation of the “Program to Strengthen the Capacity of Azerbaijan’s Medium-Term Budget Framework,” jointly supported by the World Bank and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), as well as the program’s final results and prospects for further cooperation.
Anar Karimov noted that the long-term and effective cooperation established between Azerbaijan and the World Bank in the field of public finance management is of great importance for strengthening fiscal discipline, strategic budget planning, and the application of results-oriented management mechanisms. It was noted that, within the framework of the implemented program, significant results were achieved in strengthening the country’s medium-term budget framework, improving strategic budgeting practices, and accelerating the transition to a program-based budgeting approach.
The meeting also focused on the work being done in collaboration with the World Bank to advance digitalization and digital transformation in public financial management. In this context, the key measures taken to analyze and modernize the digital ecosystem for public financial management and to implement state-of-the-art information systems were highlighted.
In turn, Fabienne Mroczka noted the high level of cooperation between the World Bank and Azerbaijan and emphasized that the reforms implemented have played an important role in modernizing the public financial management system, expanding results-oriented budgeting mechanisms, and strengthening institutional capacity.
The meeting also addressed the application of program-based and results-based budgeting mechanisms in the health, youth and sports, culture, and media sectors; the organization of training for representatives of relevant government agencies; and the transition process to program-based budgeting in these areas. In addition, the importance of further institutionalizing program-based and results-based budgeting processes, strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems, managing fiscal risks, and expanding opportunities for digital transformation and analytical forecasting was emphasized.
