Australian Development Gateway

The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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Managing public expenditure

Critical issues in fiscal decentralisation (pdf 614kb)

It discusses major options for fiscal decentralisation to improve public service delivery and problems a country could face in implementing decentralisation. Fiscal decentralisation refers to the devolution of taxing and spending powers to lower levels of government.

The paper argues that decentralisation can work only when it strengthens local accountability and when national and local governments are linked with clear rules.

The paper focuses on fiscal dimensions of accountability between national and local governments and desirable features of fiscal decentralisation.

This paper is intended as a reference for donors and practitioners involved in designing and managing programs and conducting policy dialogue under decentralised government systems and supporting decentralisation in other countries.

 

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