The feasibility of financing sectoral development targets

Abstract

Budget documents from five sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda) were analysed to examine actual expenditure in six key sectors central to social and economic development: social protection, health, education, water and sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure. The results show that government spending on key sectors is falling short of spending targets, but that in some cases even total government expenditure would not be enough to meet the agreed targets. It is argued that a silo approach to sector financing means that development sectors compete for resources and this has the potential to undermine good public finance management