1. Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys(PETS)
Zerubabel Ojoo
Management systems and Economic Consultants
Jan

2. What is (PETS)
Diagnostic or monitoring tool to understand problems in budget execution
delays/predictability of public funding
Leakage / shortfalls in public funding
discretion in allocation of resources
What PETS does?
Collect data from different levels of government, including service delivery units
Rely on record reviews, but also head teacher/health facility manager interviews
Vary design depending on perceived problems, country, and sector

3. The ideal situation in budgeting…
Policy framework
Government program
PRSP
Sector strategies
Budget allocation
Outturn
Timely disbursements in accordance with established policies and priorities
Outputs
Impact
Outcomes
Social accountability
Which dimensions of SA do we apply as the budget is executed?
Who takes responsibility and bears the cost

4. A more typical situation…
Lack of clarity about how resource allocation relates to policies and priorities
- budget not comprehensive
- classification system
Political economy
Nontransparent process
- Poor reporting on execution
- High level of aggregation
- Discretion in allocation
Weak service delivery
Accountability
Efficiency
- Quality
Inherently difficult to assess
- Household surveys
- Participatory approaches
- Social Impact Assessment
Unclear policy framework
Weak management information systems
- limited coverage
- poor data quality
- late and scattered reporting 
Policy framework
Govt. program
PRSP
Sector strategies
Budget allocation
Outturn
Timely disbursements in accordance with established policies and priorities
Outputs
Impact
Outcomes
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE TRACKING SURVEY (PETS)
QUANTITATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY SURVEY (QSDS)

5. The poor and services, and monitoring tools.
Public spending benefits the rich more than the poor
Benefit incidence analysis of public spending for diagnosis
Money fails to reach frontline service providers
Captured by administrative layers or politicians
Public expenditure tracking surveys (PETS)
Poor quality services
Quantitative Service Delivery Survey (QSDS)
e.g., absenteeism,
Even if we can improve the allocation of resources, and build facilities closer to poor people, there is a problem that the money doesn’t reach the frontline service provider.
In Uganda benefit incidence was neutral, but based on school-level data, poor school received nothing, better off some, and local politicians and officials most.

6. The Key Social Accountability issues.
Weak societal actors to play central role in SA in terms of funding and organization.
Incentive structure inclined to punishment. Problems exist in enforcing punishment and sanctions in decentralized setting.
Rewards and political patronage.
Rule following is the focus. Performance based SA is new.
Low level of institutionalization and methods in use are not inscribed in the law
Early external involvement with limited external participation at the end of the process.
Elitist involvement with the executive branch of government.