C. The Government of Myanmar’s Fiscal Management Objectives
In the Framework for Economic and Social Reforms (FESR), the government outlines its plans for health and education to account for an increasing proportion of government spending, while the share spent on the military will decline. The government also recognizes the need to reduce reliance on resource revenues and is therefore prioritizing the reform of tax policy and tax administration as well as a gradual shift away from direct to indirect taxation. The Ministry of Finance and Revenue (MoFR) has set a target of achieving a 10% tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio (i.e., more than double the current ratio) by 2018. The MoFR also recognizes the need to broaden what is currently a very narrow tax base (IMF 2013).
Monetary policy still has a limited role in Myanmar, so in the short- to medium-term, fiscal policy will remain the main instrument for managing macroeconomic stability and growth. However, fiscal policy also needs to be used to address the country’s large and pressing human development needs. In order to deliver optimal fiscal reform, the MoFR has established a working group to develop public financial management (PFM) reform strategies and help to coordinate international donors— both financial and technical cooperation is being sought from the international community.
D. Outline
Section II examines the strategic resource allocation, covering: the level and sectoral allocation of public expenditures, balancing capital and recurrent expenditures, balancing public and private expenditures, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditures, and improving the planning and budgeting system. Section III covers various aspects related to resource mobilization, namely: revenues from natural resources, SEE resources, taxes, and foreign aid and borrowing. Section IV discusses the recent move to fiscal decentralization, paying particular attention to: the links between political, administrative and fiscal decentralization; progress on the four pillars of fiscal decentralization; and the links between fiscal decentralization and sharing natural resource wealth. Section V considers the importance of macro fiscal linkages, and analyses: the links between fiscal policy and stability, growth, and poverty reduction; management of fiscal risks; budget deficit financing and debt sustainability; and macroeconomic management. Section VI concludes the chapter with an assessment of accountability, transparency, system reform and institution building, focusing on: the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment, EITI, further PFM reforms, and institutional reform and capacity building.
The following sections endeavor to contribute to the implementation of government objectives by providing an overview of the recent past and current situation in Myanmar, highlighting the linkages between fiscal management issues and other macroeconomic and sectoral issues, and drawing on the experience of other relevant countries to make concrete and practical suggestions for policy changes and system reform.
II. STRATEGIC RESOURCE ALLOCATION
In the FESR, the government makes it clear that in order to support both growth and poverty reduction, it needs to increase public expenditures on the social sectors and infrastructure as well as provide appropriate support for other critical sectors, including agriculture and rural development, and industry. International experience confirms the importance of such an approach. Indeed, analysis of cross-country differences in per capita incomes and growth rates clearly shows that they are
determined in part, at least, by investment in infrastructure and human capital. Public spending in favor of human resource development and investment in physical capital leads to relatively high GDP growth, whereas spending on military capital is negatively related to GDP growth (Baffes and Shah
1993). It is also clear that it is not only the quantity but also the quality of investments in infrastructure (as well as the social sectors) that is positively linked to long-run economic growth and more equitable income distribution (Calderon and Serven 2004).
This international experience provides valuable support for the government’s overall strategy. But to make sure that public expenditures have the desired impact, it will be important to carefully review the level and sectoral allocation of those expenditures, the balance between capital and recurrent expenditures, the relationship between public and private expenditures, and how the overall efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditures can be increased; and this, in turn, will require significant improvements in planning and budgeting systems.
A. Increasing the Level and Adjusting the Sectoral Allocation of Public Expenditures
Consistent with the priorities laid out in the FESR, the government has increased expenditures on education and health significantly during FY2011 and FY2014 (Figure 1). However, expenditures on defense have also increased, while expenditures on agriculture (another key priority of the government) have remained almost constant. Moreover, it will take many years to address the huge backlog of investment needs in priority sectors. In education, for example, it has been proposed that public funding should be raised from 1% of GDP in recent years to 3% of GDP by 2015, and then maintained at least at that level for the next decade; and in infrastructure, it has been estimated that Myanmar faces an investment gap of anywhere between $2.3 billion and $4.7 billion per year (depending on the overall growth rates being targeted).