Project Dates: March 2021 – March 2026
Client: DAI Global, LLC
Donor: USAID
Project Description:
The Jordan Public Financial Management Activity (PFMA) aims to work in partnership with USAID/Jordan and the Government of Jordan (GoJ) to improve Jordan’s revenue system and enhance their budget management process. PFMA will build the capacity of the Jordanian Ministry of Finance and other government institutions to modernize the revenue collection system, encourage compliance—including making it easier for taxpayers to comply with tax obligations—upgrade public procurement management, and improve budget planning, preparation, and execution.
Through a combination of technical assistance, capacity building, and facilitation, tangible and measurable results are expected during the anticipated five-year duration of the activity. The PFMA is implemented by DAI in association with ECO Consult and PM Consulting Group.
Project Brief:
The goal of the five-year Public Financial Management and Administration Activity (PFMA) is to improve public financial management in Jordan. PFMA will help improve the performance and efficiency of the Jordanian revenue system and will enhance the budget management process. This will be achieved by building the capacity of the Jordanian Ministry of Finance (MOF) and other GoJ institutions to improve tax policy formulation, modernize the revenue collection system, encourage compliance, ease taxpayer ability to comply with tax obligations, improve budget planning, preparation and execution, and improve the public procurement management. The activity will contribute to increased economic stability within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
PFMA is commencing at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan, coinciding with the highest daily rates of new infections and deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. The surge of infections, ongoing lockdown measures, and worsening economic conditions make PFMA’s work especially critical. The project is prepared for rabid respond to specific needs as identified by counterparts and to support strategic short-term interventions. The project leadership team is prepared for a rapid response with the provision of short term selected technical interventions as requested by counterparts and approved by USAID.
PFMA will work with and through local systems while thinking and working politically. PFMA reforms in Jordan are taking place in a complex political operating environment; there is an imperative to implement based on a nuanced understanding of actors and institutions, their incentives, and motivations. It is not enough simply to deliver the right kind of technical assistance (TA) in Jordan. We must first identify champions (and potential spoilers), align incentives, and adapt our approaches to focus on the highest-impact interventions, within a complex PFM ecosystem. Likewise, the project will support technical assistance activities with Change Management approaches to secure long-term sustainability and counterpart buy in.
Project Activities and results/ expected outcomes:
Project key objectives include:
- Improving the revenue raising system;
- Streamlining the budget management process;
- Optimizing public expenditure management; and
Implementing crosscutting Public Financial Management reforms such as interventions to address COVID-19.