Uganda Public Financial Management Reform

Uganda Public Financial Management Reform

Background and Context

Originally conceived as an institutional assessment of the Resource Enhancement and Accountability Programme (REAP)/Reform Coordination Unit (RCU) to inform a larger future UK-funded Public Financial Management (PFM) programme, the intervention evolved in response to changing circumstances. Reductions in UK aid funding and Government of Uganda (GoU) commitments to continue financing REAP/RCU shifted the focus from organisational assessment to direct support for the implementation of the GoU’s PFM Reform Strategy (PFM-RS) 2025-2030.

Key Counterparts

The intervention works closely with a broad range of government stakeholders, including:

Objective

The intervention aims to strengthen Uganda’s PFM reform process by providing strategic technical advice, supporting implementation of priority reforms under the PFM-RS, and helping government institutions develop sustainable mechanisms to improve planning, budgeting, fiscal risk management and PFM performance monitoring.

Approach and Scope of Support

The project has embedded a senior PFM Adviser to support the GoU’s REAP and the RCU within the MoFPED.

The Adviser has adopted a catalytic and collaborative approach, working through the RCU to convene stakeholders, facilitate reform design and support government ownership of reform initiatives.

Support focuses on three core reform areas:

  1. Planning and Budgeting Reform (Budget Challenge Project)
    • Supported development of a major reform programme to strengthen multi-annual service delivery planning and improve budget formulation, execution and monitoring.
    • Facilitated collaboration between MoFPED and the NPA in designing a two-stage reform programme aimed at addressing systemic weaknesses in public expenditure management.
  2. State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) Fiscal Risk Oversight
    • Developed concept notes and draft terms of reference for a reform initiative to strengthen government capacity to identify, monitor and manage fiscal risks arising from SOEs.
  3. PFM Performance Monitoring
    • Supported domestication of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment process.
    • Developed proposals for enhanced monitoring and impact assessment of the PFM-RS.

Outcomes and Emerging Impact

The intervention has contributed significantly to the finalisation and approval of the GoU’s PFM-RS 2025-2030, including direct support to the Fiscal Strategy and monitoring chapters.

Its most notable achievement was the development of the Budget Challenge Project, a flagship reform programme that has secured high-level government support and has been incorporated into Uganda’s Priority Reforms Action Matrix (PRAM), a joint planning and reform tool used to guide PFM reform. The initiative is expected to strengthen service delivery planning across government, lay the foundation for multi-year budgeting and improve the efficiency of public expenditure.

The intervention has also initiated reforms to strengthen SOE fiscal risk oversight and advanced government-led approaches to PEFA assessments, creating a platform for improved transparency, accountability and evidence-based PFM reform management.

While many of the intended outcomes will materialise over the longer term, the project has successfully established reform pathways, strengthened collaboration across key institutions and positioned the GoU to pursue transformative improvements in planning, budgeting and public sector performance.