POLISH AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS MEET IN WARSAW TO DISCUSS THEIR EXPERIENCE ON PERFORMANCE –BASED BUDGETING

 Contacts:
In Warsaw:  Jacek J. Wojciechowicz  (+48 22) 520 8000
jwojciechowicz@worldbank.org
Malgorzata Dworzynska (+48 22) 520 8052
mdworzynska@worldbank.org

 POLISH AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS MEET IN WARSAW TO DISCUSS THEIR EXPERIENCE ON PERFORMANCE –BASED BUDGETING 
The International Conference on Performance-Based Budgeting: Lessons for Poland, co-hosted by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland and the World Bank starts in Warsaw

Warsaw, November 7, 2007- Today the Secretary of State from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Teresa Lubinska  and the World Bank Country Manager for Poland, Oscar de Bruyn Kops formally  opened the  three day long International Conference on Performance-Based Budgeting: Lessons for Poland.

In 1990s and 2000s, many governments have taken steps to make the budgets of their countries more performance-oriented. Performance-based budgeting (PBB) is a modern concept of budget planning and drafting, which, contrary to the traditional approach, links the allocation of resources to achievement of specific objectives and leads to higher efficiency of public spending. PPB means a radical change in public sector management. It moves the focus from public spending to results which can be achieved with public money. 

Participants at the conference will review international experience in the implementation of PBB and are focusing on knowledge sharing. The presence of distinguished speakers - both practitioners and researchers – will help to ensure that best practices and valuable lessons from various countries all around the world will be shared. The speakers include Ivan Miklos, the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic and the main architect of Slovak economic reform; Jonathan Breul, former Advisor to the US President on Performance Budgeting; Teresa Curristine (Senior Policy Analyst, OECD), and Marc Robinson (Senior Economist in Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF). Other speakers include Mario Marcel (former Budget Director for Chile); T. Russell Robinson (former senior official with Canada's Treasury Board); David Webber (Director of Economics & Strategy Group Ltd, New Zealand); Benoît Chevauchez (senior official with General Economic and Financial Control Office, France); Helmer Vossers (Budget Affairs Director in the Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands), and government counterparts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia and Turkey along with World Bank experts. The conference will also be attended by leading Polish experts and officials as one of its main purposes is to provide a forum for debate on a road map for PBB implementation in Poland.

The conference agenda includes the presentation of opportunities and challenges in introducing PBB in Poland and an overview of experience from the OECD countries. One topic to be discussed is the rationale for PBB with an emphasis on the opportunities it offers for enhanced governance and public service delivery, as well as how the implementation of PBB-related reforms should be managed among key stakeholders. The discussion also focuses on regional and global case studies, and challenges to PBB implementation - in particular in emerging markets.

During the conference, examples of performance based budgeting practices from such countries as the Netherlands, France, USA and Chile will be presented. The last day of the conference is devoted solely to Poland and will be addressed to the Polish officials who are responsible for PBB implementation. Its aim is to discuss the preparation of a road map for PPB implementation in Poland with possible World Bank support. During this session, Polish and international experts and practitioners will be discussing the current system of public finance management, starting from strategic planning, through medium-term and annual planning to performance-based budgeting, including specific issues of selected sectors.

“Performance-based budgeting improves the transparency of public spending and puts greater emphasis on long-term financial planning,” – says Bernard Myers, Senior Public Sector Management Specialist at the World Bank. “In the case of Poland, the first step in the PBB implementation has already been taken, but effective implementation of this framework is a long-term process - in some OECD countries it has taken several years to establish a government-wide performance management framework and they continue to make improvements. Because of reform complexity, it would be useful to treat it as a part of broader public finance and administrative reform and pursue the necessary political consensus. Although there is no one model of performance budgeting, and each country needs to adjust its approach to the relevant political and institutional circumstances, it is worthwhile to learn from the experience of other countries. I hope that the conference will help Polish decision-makers to select good practices to be replicated in Poland and avoid potential pitfalls.”

International Conference on Performance-Based Budgeting

Lessons for Poland

Warsaw, Pałac Lubomirskich and World Bank Office

7-9 November 2007

(to obtain the presentations please click on the links)