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Azerbaijan initiates training sessions on implementation of new budget mechanism

11 February 2025 17:15 (UTC +04:00)

On February 11, the opening session of trainings on the topic "Implementation of a new budget mechanism and capacity building in Azerbaijan" was held, jointly organized by the Ministry of Finance, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the World Bank, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Finance told APA-Economics.

The event featured speeches and presentations on the implementation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in Azerbaijan, the transition to program and performance-based budgeting mechanisms, international cooperation in this field, future steps in the reform process, and training sessions aimed at capacity building for the application of the new budget mechanism.

The event was attended by representatives from the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Chamber of Accounts, various ministries, committees, other state institutions, international financial organizations, and independent experts. Ilham Karimov, Director of the Center for the Preparation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework at the Ministry of Finance, delivered a speech on the history of the reforms, and the work carried out so far and highlighted the significance of the performance-based budgeting mechanism as a fiscal regulation tool.

Deputy Head of Switzerland’s Regional Cooperation Office, Guy Bonvin, and the World Bank’s Country Manager for Azerbaijan, Stefanie Stallmeister, discussed the contribution of the "Capacity Building for Medium-Term Expenditure Framework in Azerbaijan" project to public financial management and emphasized that upcoming support initiatives will further accelerate these reforms.

World Bank experts presented international best practices on the implementation of MTEF and performance-based budgeting mechanisms, while representatives from the Ministry of Finance provided an overview of ongoing public finance management reforms, the improved legal and institutional framework, the procedural foundations for implementing the performance-based budgeting mechanism, and the organization of theoretical-methodological and practical training sessions aimed at capacity building in the sectors involved in the reforms.

Following the opening session, a general theoretical-methodological training program will be conducted by the training team of the Ministry of Finance’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework Preparation Center for representatives of organizations involved in the reforms from February 17 to 28 this year. Additionally, specialized practical training sessions led by World Bank experts are scheduled to take place from April to June 2024.