Economic and Public Sector Reform II

The Economic and Public Sector Reform II initiative supports the Partnership for Development Priority Outcome 1 of a more efficient and effective public sector, specifically improved public expenditure, financial and resource management in Tonga. The activities will support the implementation of the new Government of Tonga (GoT)'s economic and public sector reform program including: medium term economic reform program recently agreed by GoT and like- minded development partners (including Australia), to which Australia and the World Bank are linking substantial budget support as performance- linked aid; reforms to increase revenue streams and strengthens revenue collection, based on a recent review undertaken by GoT with support from the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (under AusAID's auspices); major civil service restructure initiated by the new Tongan government; and implementation of recommendations from a recent AusAID sponsored Assessment of National (financial, procurement and audit) Systems, aimed at strengthening the ability of AusAID and other donors to use Tonga's own systems to deliver aid in an accountable fashion, by clearly identifying and managing fiduciary risks where they exits. The total value of this initiative is $7.4 million over 5 years, starting 2011-12.