[{"bbox": [97, 123, 1134, 174], "category": "Text", "text": "internal controls in revenue collection, and noted failures and delays in the collection of government revenue and unaccounted for revenue."}, {"bbox": [97, 189, 1134, 428], "category": "Text", "text": "Public sector accountability and corruption: In the past few years, political and economic governance in Zambia has declined. Public sector faces considerable structural constraints. A focus on short-term political expediency and personal gains, had impaired the implementation of reform plans to strengthen the country's fiscal position and to improve public policy efficiency and effectiveness. Powerful political and economic interests have obstructed the introduction of reforms to key economic sectors. Political interference in the bureaucracy and a lack of decentralization remain areas of concern. The increasing lack of transparency in the management of public resources has made it difficult to assess the efficiency of public policies. Large public investments have failed to deliver on their promises, partly due to a weak public infrastructure management system and a lack of transparency in public procurement."}, {"bbox": [97, 439, 1134, 570], "category": "Text", "text": "Corruption has long been a challenge in Zambia. There is a common perception that corruption is widespread and largely ignored. The country's ranking has been worsening on Corruption Perception Index, sitting at 117 of 180 countries. Corruption in Zambia is a major impediment to access to public services and an obstacle for conducting business. Oversight institutions have limited autonomy and are underfunded, generating public scepticism as to their effectiveness."}, {"bbox": [97, 585, 1134, 744], "category": "Text", "text": "The GRZ has taken a strong stance on public sector accountability. The President has committed to prioritise the fight against corruption and to promote measures, aiming at improving public policies efficiency and effectiveness, in a context of very tight fiscal space. The details of the government's strategy and the exact content of its reform programme remain to be made public. The GRZ has requested the support of the IMF to conduct a detailed diagnostic analysis public sector governance weaknesses and make specific and prioritized reform recommendations to strengthen governance. The Country Governance Diagnostic report is expected for mid-2022."}, {"bbox": [97, 756, 1134, 943], "category": "Text", "text": "The Zambia Statistics Agency has embarked on strengthening the statistical capacities of Planning Units through the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics II (2019 -2024). The VNR 2020 indicated that data inadequacies are still hampering the country's ability to effectively monitor and evaluate development programmes, contributing to hinder progress on public sector accountability. Among current challenges, the country's statistical capacity remains limited by lack of data management mechanisms/systems; limited coordination/collaboration within and between institutions; weaknesses in the sector information management systems; limited disaggregation of data."}, {"bbox": [97, 955, 1134, 1036], "category": "Text", "text": "The institutions that will benefit most from this programme include the MoFNP, the ZRA, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the National Assembly of Zambia (NAZ), and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)."}, {"bbox": [97, 1047, 1134, 1287], "category": "Text", "text": "The MoFNP (duty bearer) is the main coordinating body responsible for public financial management. The Ministry is also the principal actor in policy formulation in respect of public finance, and as such responsible for the financial soundness of government's economic policies and for the proper control of revenue and expenditure. It is responsible for formulating policy on revenue generation for the government. The Ministry is responsible for the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the NDP, for the formulation of economic development policies, for the preparation of the MTEF and the annual national budget. The Ministry also oversees statutory bodies that perform other specialised functions, including the Bank of Zambia (for monetary policy management), ZRA (for tax administration), and the ZPPA (for public procurement regulation). MoFNP will be a key actor and beneficiary institution in this Action."}, {"bbox": [97, 1299, 1134, 1432], "category": "Text", "text": "The ZRA (duty bearer) operates as a semi-autonomous institution, funded from general revenues. It administers taxation on behalf of government, in line with government tax policy, as may be prescribed by the GRZ through tax legislation. While ZRA is entrusted with the responsibility of tax-revenue collection and administration, the tax policy function is with the MoFNP. Due to its exclusive mandate, ZRA plays an integral role in public financial management. In this Action, the ZRA will play a critical role in activities pertaining to DRM."}, {"bbox": [97, 1444, 1134, 1604], "category": "Text", "text": "The OAG (duty bearer) has the role of auditing all revenues raised by the GRZ and appropriations made to each Ministry and other government institutions, to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Public Finance Act and other regulations. The Auditor-General scrutinizes the use of financial resources and ensures that the GRZ delivers services in an equitable, efficient and effective manner for the benefit of all citizens. Under the Revised Public Finance Act 2018, the Auditor General also has the mandate to carry out value for money and other specialized audits."}, {"bbox": [1028, 1681, 1142, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 10 of 31"}]