1. Delivering Value for Money
Case of Slovakia
Ľudovít Ódor

2. „Economic institutions matter for economic growth because they shape the incentives of key economic actors in society, in particular, they influence investments in physical and human capital and technology, and the organization of production“.
Acemoglu et al. (2004)
“Much more important than the size of government is its quality … There is a very powerful correlation between the quality of government and good economic and social outcomes”.
Francis Fukuyama

3. Trust is important
Eurobarometer 85

4. Political economy considerations
Ministry of Finance first
Program budgeting and top-down fiscal constraints had no significant impact
Big bang strategy: „You cannot cross the chasm in two small steps“
Value for money package: institutional reforms (analytical teams), broad coverage of actvities, new methods, outcome indicators, data requirements
Testing phase
Timing is important

5. Ex-ante evaluation
Agenda
Ex-post
evaluation
MoF, MoI, PPO
Operational expenses
NAO
MoF
Investment
NAO
ministries,
MoF, CBR
Policies
NAO,
(MoF, CBR) GO
Regulations
NAO,
regulators

6. Potential problems Political capture Risk of irrelevance
Limited capacities/capabilities
Risk of slow decision making
Risk of losing public support

7. Where are we now?
Strong public support (president, CEA, SEA, think tanks)
Institutional anchor (value for money team at the MoF)
Pilot projects + three spending reviews + three more in the pipeline
Involvement of IMF, OECD and EC
Some budgetary impact
It is a nice achievement after 6 months

8. Four scenarios
„Business as usual“: good analytical work, but only politically acceptable results will be published. Weak links to the budget.
„Only a formality“: weak institutions, low- quality analyses, de facto end of the project
„Miracle“: strong political support, direct links to the budget, high-quality outputs
„Slow progress“ – gradual institutional changes
Political leadership, public support and high transparency will be key

9. „If people don't know what you're doing, they don't know what you're doing wrong.“
„Ministers do not believe they exist unless they are reading about themselves in the newspapers.“
“Opposition aren't really the opposition. They are just called the Opposition. But, in fact, they are the opposition in exile. The Civil Service are the opposition in residence.”
Sir Humphrey (Yes, Minister)

10. Thank you for your attention!