What is the impact of government policies on budget volatility, savings, investment, debt, inflation, the exchange rate, transparency and accountability? As part of RWI's revenue management work, government officials and advocates from Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan met from 3-5 October in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to assess whether mining income is being managed effectively, transparently and accountably, and for the benefit of citizens.
In many Middle Eastern, North African and Asian countries, government revenues generated from oil, gas and mineral licensing and production dwarf all other capital inflows. However, the economic challenges and severe lack of accountability in the management of these volatile and exhaustible revenues keeps citizens from benefitting as much as they could.
As a response, RWI has launched a project in these regions to strengthen the monitoring of domestic revenue management systems. The project is meant to assess the performance of natural resource funds, revenue sharing regimes and other institutions such as national oil companies that have an impact on revenue management.
Our first set of workshops were held this past summer in Azerbaijan and Lebanon, and another introductory workshop is planned for Anglophone Africa. Our partners in this work include think tanks, former parliamentarians, former civil servants, NGOs and academics, and other advocates.
In October's meeting in Ulaanbaatar, participants shared regional experiences and discussed the roles of natural resource funds, national mining companies, development banks and revenue sharing regimes, including cash transfer programs, in the revenue management system.
