We are pleased to offer a new column entitled “Reforming public finance management system”.

Improving the efficiency of public finance management is one of the priorities in social and economic policy of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Consolidated budget, which is the basis of public finances, accounts forabout 1/3 of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Uzbekistan. In terms of economic and social development this is a significant amount that affects the well-being of people and development in general. Therefore, an effective, accountable and transparent public finance management is very important for improving the welfare and human development in Uzbekistan.

In accordance with its mandate to promote human development, the United Nations Development Programmehas been supporting the Government of Uzbekistan within a "Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan" project jointly implemented with the Ministry of Finance.The project is currently carrying out a number of initiatives aimed at improving the legal framework related to budget process and public procurement, introducing the new methods of budget planning, including one of the performance-based budgeting models, reformingpublic sector accounting and reporting system based on international standards, as well as enhancingthe capacity of professionals to promote the reform process.

Regular publications in this column will acquaint you not only with the project initiatives and results, but also with a wide range of issues related to the public finance. You will learn about the other initiative of the project, which aims at contributing to the development and implementation of legal and regulatory framework to ensure an effective and transparent public procurement system. To this end, the project assisted in drafting the public procurement law and the draftsof four by-laws regulatingpublic procurement procedures.

We will also introduce you to the basic provisions, conclusions and recommendations made in the analytical reports prepared by the experts of the Project, in collaboration with national and international experts. We hope that our analytical work will contribute to the strengthening of local capacity and development initiatives in the field.

Enhancing the capacity of specialists in the areaof public finance, both at the central and regional levels, plays an important part in project activities. We are confident that the potential created will become a guide for reforms in the economic sphere as a whole and in the field of public finance in particular.

To explore interesting and useful information in the field of public finance, we invite not only specialists, but welcome a wide range of readers, including researchers, students, university professors, and journalists to visit the site Uzdaily.com.

Sincerely,
Fayzulla Salakhuddinov,
Project Manager, "Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan" Project