Republic of Iraq Public Expenditure Review: Toward More Efficient Spending for Better Service Delivery

The report is organized as follows. Chapter one sets out the strategic context for Iraq, including the evolving political situation, macroeconomic context, and poverty and social conditions. Chapter two analyzes the trends in, and composition of, public expenditure, both from economic and functional perspectives. This chapter discusses the efficiency of public expenditure in Iraq (that is, through benchmarking as well as direct output comparisons) and identifies, on the basis of analysis, key sectors for further in-depth assessment for the second phase. It also looks at revenue management issues drawing on the Country Economic Memorandum (CEM). Chapter three examines strategic prioritization and budget execution issues in Iraq. In particular, it reviews the national development priorities, as articulated in the National Development Plan (NDP) and poverty reduction strategy (PRS), and examines the strategic orientation of public expenditures, that is, to what extent public expenditure priorities relate to Iraq s development plan. This chapter also focuses on public investment in Iraq, analyzes key issues against efficient and effective use of investment budget, and proposes actions for an effective Public Investment Management (PIM) system. Chapter four analyzes efficiency of public spending in electricity sector and discusses public service delivery issues while chapter five focuses on efficiency and equity issues in public expenditure on health.