Between 2005/06 and 2011/12, 14 Development Partners collectively provided almost US$5 billion in budget support to Tanzania.
The overarching objective of this support was to assist the Government of Tanzania in strengthening its policies, strategies, and spending actions to achieve its objectives of economic growth and poverty reduction. The evaluation assessed in detail the extent to which this objective was successfully achieved. The evaluation forms part of a wider process of assessment of the effects of budget support at the international level.
The evaluation
An evaluation team conducted the analysis over a twelve-month period from February 2012. The team applied the OECD-DAC methodology for the evaluation of budget support, using a combination of methods, including document review, compilation of an aid database and qualitative and econometric analysis of the available data. In Tanzania, interviews and focus groups were held with government ministries and development partners. The methodology was applied to answer three key questions: i. How successful has budget support been in providing the means to the Government of Tanzania to implement its national and sectoral strategies? ii. How successful has budget support been in facilitating improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of these national and sectoral strategies? iii. As a consequence, how successful has budget support been in attaining successful outcomes and impacts on growth and poverty reduction?
Findings
The evaluation found that Budget Support has had an important influence on growth, on improved outcomes in the education sector and on improvements in non-income poverty. Budget Support funds have allowed the Government to maintain a high level of development spending throughout the period, without increasing domestic borrowing, contributing to a sustained level of public investment and a fast recovery from the global financial crisis.
One of the key findings of our evaluation was that the primary contribution of budget support has been in the form of increased funding. However, the complementary inputs of budget support, which might have helped to generate a greater impact, have not functioned effectively. The evaluation made a number of practical recommendations for how to improve the effectiveness of future budget support in Tanzania.
You can read the report here.
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