[{"bbox": [85, 151, 1145, 392], "category": "Text", "text": "Mongolia has a firm commitment to the environment and climate action. In November 2020, Mongolia submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with an ambitious target of 44,9% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The NDC clearly indicates the opportunity to align NDC targets with sector policies and to mobilise climate finance. The joint programming priorities as outlined in the EU MIP 2021-2027 are fully aligned with green sustainable development. Priority Area 2 is envisaged to enable the implementation of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI), by enhancing public investment management at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with PFM-related actions. The strengthening of performance-oriented PFM systems supported by this action will provide a guideline to include environmental aspects in the process of budget formulation."}, {"bbox": [85, 419, 1145, 580], "category": "Text", "text": "Establishing a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), including “top-down” policy setting, expenditure ceilings, and criteria for prioritising public investment, was a significant step towards strengthening fiscal discipline. However, there still exists the need to supplement fiscal discipline with a stronger emphasis on the allocative and operational efficiency of public spending during the coming years and thereby using a “bottom-up” approach. In this context, the action will focus on the Government to improve the efficiency of public spending, enable better service delivery and develop instruments for strategic reallocation of resources."}, {"bbox": [85, 590, 1145, 752], "category": "Text", "text": "The PEFA Assessment 2021 was used to track reform progress over time. There were improvements in medium-term expenditure estimates, setting expenditure ceilings, increased tax collection, and external scrutiny and audit over the period. However, scores for budget comprehensiveness, transparency and policy alignment of strategic plans and medium-term budgets have remained at low levels (D, score 2021). Despite some improvements, insufficient budget credibility hinders strategic planning, fiscal adjustment and spending agencies’ ability to align their medium-term objectives and plans with the resources available."}, {"bbox": [85, 762, 1145, 1053], "category": "Text", "text": "To strengthen the interrelations between medium-term budget and annual budget, budgetary allocations, ongoing government policy and strategic focus of expenditures, the process of introduction of performance-based budgeting (PBB) was initiated in 2020. Since 2021, pilots in specific ministries have begun implementing the first stages of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) as one of the important cross-cutting themes identified within the priority areas. Within the second cross cutting theme, in the area of climate change, the MOF (supported by the UNDP) initiated a gradual integration of SDGs into its budget cycle to align budgeting with SDG priorities and indicators in (i) special protected areas, (ii) desertification, and (iii) land degradation and water resource management. This initiative intended to introduce PBB in the environmental sector and align policy objectives to the SDGs in the national context. As a result, an expansion of SDG-aligned environmental budgeting was designed for 2021 and 2022 with corresponding SDG budgeting methodology and templates. However, this process has not been finalised and will need further technical assistance."}, {"bbox": [85, 1070, 1145, 1152], "category": "Text", "text": "In this context it should be stressed that the ambitions of the Action is to continuously support the results achieved so far in all cross-cutting themes (youth, digital agenda, gender, climate change) relevant to the PFM areas. This includes their full integration into programmes and projects to be developed and financed under the MIP 2021-2027."}, {"bbox": [85, 1167, 1145, 1355], "category": "Text", "text": "Despite the results achieved so far, the interrelations between policy and budgeting in the medium-term remain weak. The introduction of the MTSS (Medium-Term Sectoral Strategies) practice with fully costed programs, its alignment with PBB was not implemented in the pilot ministries. Although key performance indicators (KPIs) were developed, their practical use in budget preparation still needs additional support. The system of evaluation and monitoring of PBB performance indicators is another issue to be addressed. In addition, the prevailing PBB system implemented in pilot ministries is focused on current budget expenditures, wages and salaries in particular. Investment/capital expenditures are not integrated into the MTEF approach with inadequate links to the planning of current expenditures."}, {"bbox": [85, 1370, 1145, 1452], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action has also the ambition to extend PBB at the sub-national or local level to increase the effectiveness of budget expenditure management. The PBB implementation at the provincial and local government level is a new initiative that deserves special attention resulting from specifics of these local public institutions."}, {"bbox": [85, 1466, 1145, 1628], "category": "Text", "text": "Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is another target set by this action. Following the adopted Gender Strategy of MOF, CEDAW recommendations and the adopted Law on Gender Equality and Gender Policies, in 2020, the Ministry of Finance started introducing Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) into the Public Finance Management System. The first field mission on GRB, with the support of our previous partnership, was held in January 2020. It resulted in developing an Action Plan for introducing GRB in the context of Mongolia's public finance management system. The plan consisted of five pillars: setting the preconditions for effective GRB coordination, piloting GRB in"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1681, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 27"}]