Republic of Serbia Municipal Public Finance Review : Options for Efficiency Gains
Since the global financial crisis, Serbia's public debt has more than doubled. Local Governments (LGs) need to find ways to perform more efficiently, not only to contribute to national fiscal consolidation efforts, but also because they may ha...
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Format: | Other Public Sector Study |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
Washington, DC
2014
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Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/06/19878431/serbia-municipal-public-finance-review-options-efficiency-gains http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20009 |
Summary: | Since the global financial crisis,
Serbia's public debt has more than doubled. Local
Governments (LGs) need to find ways to perform more
efficiently, not only to contribute to national fiscal
consolidation efforts, but also because they may have fewer
resources available in the future. This report represents a
continuation of the World Bank effort to explore LGs
finances. The first phase of this report focused on options
for increases in local revenues; impact of further
decentralization; options for reduction of subsidies in
selected sectors; and how to control the public debt. The
report is organized as follows. Chapter 2 examines LG hiring
and pay policies. In addition to offering recommendations on
how to achieve efficiency and savings, it sheds light on
employment wage policies within LG enterprises. Chapter 3
deepens the analysis of local public utility companies
(PUCs), which not only have significant responsibilities for
delivering local services, but also often pose a significant
pressure on LG budgets. On average, financial support to
PUCs accounts for a quarter of local budgets. This chapter
looks at the main issues and makes recommendations for
efficiency gains. Chapter 4 discusses the most important
public financial management issues for LGs, asking where
better management and accountability could increase
value-for-money and help extract additional benefits from
current and capital expenditures. It examines budget
preparation, execution, and reporting issues as a basis for
recommending policies to increase transparency and
accountability as well as more efficient use of resources.
Chapter 5 summarizes the main conclusions and policy
recommendations of the report. |
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