Engaging Line Ministries in Public Financial Management Reform in Cambodia

The Royal Government of Cambodia, in association with the World Bank, has recently implemented a series of public financial management reforms in order to better represent local interests and to more efficiently fund expenditures. The World Bank asked the Capstone team to map the current iteration of the budget execution process - specifically the phases from commitment to payment - and to analyze the impact of the reforms on the quality of budget execution. The team spent two weeks in Cambodia interviewing national and provincial ministry officials and other affiliated stakeholders to gain a ground-level view of the process. Subsequently, the team used a national survey to provide a richer data set, as well as a review of applicable public finance models to provide a contrast for measuring system performance. A seminar on initial findings and a presentation on change management were delivered in-country, along with a comprehensive report.