This paper was prepared by the Head of the PEFA Secretariat was presented to the annual conference of the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (USA) in Washington DC on October 13, 2011. It is based on the data gathered and analyzed in the PEFA Monitoring Report 2010.

The paper noted that dimension performance results for upstream and downstream parts of the budget management cycle are improving equally fast, whereas dimensions that involve a concentration of reform actors and strictly (de jure) legal reform measures are improving much faster than those involving a large number of actors across government institutions and dimensions where compliance with laws or reform actions are necessary.

The paper suggested that further research be conducted, based on a wider country sample and should consider differences in country characteristic.