The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) AFRICA WEST | Liberia | Governance Global Practice | IBRD/IDA | Investment Project Financing | FY 2020 | Seq No: 4 | ARCHIVED on 29-Apr-2021 | ISR46179 | Implementing Agencies: Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Republic of Liberia Key Dates Key Project Dates Bank Approval Date: 16-Jul-2019 Effectiveness Date: 01-Aug-2017 Planned Mid Term Review Date: 30-Sep-2021 Actual Mid-Term Review Date: Original Closing Date: 31-Oct-2024 Revised Closing Date: 31-Oct-2024 pdoTable Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) The project development objective (PDO) is to improve domestic revenue mobilization systems, and strengthen financial control and accountability in public finances. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project Objective? No Components Table Name 1: Enhancing DRM Sources and Systems:(Cost $8.00 M) 2: Stabilizing and Strengthening Performance of Financial Controls and Systems:(Cost $6.70 M) 3: Improving Public-Sector Capacity for Enhanced Oversight and Accountability:(Cost $2.62 M) 4: Improving Upstream and Downstream PFM Systems in Selected Sectors:(Cost $4.30 M) 5: Project Management:(Cost $1.88 M) Overall Ratings Name Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Overall Risk Rating Substantial Substantial Implementation Status and Key Decisions The Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening Project (PFMRISP) was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors on July 16, 2019 and became effective in September 2019. The disbursements ratio currently stands at 61% IDA and 74% Trust Funds (TF). Progress towards achievement of the overall Project Development Objective (PDO) and Implementation progress (IP) to date is rated as Satisfactory and Moderately Satisfactory respectively . 4/29/2021 Page 1 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) During the period under review, important milestones were reached, while several others got interrupted by the outbreak of COVID 19. However, some significant progress was made as follows: Component 1: Enhancing Domestic Revenue Mobilization Sources and Systems o Procurement of a firm to design, build and implement the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) was concluded and rightsized to fit the existing budget. The team commended government for concluding the procurement and signing the contract to deliver the ITAS. Due to budget constraints, government contracted an ITAS package of USD 5.6 million, omitting support and maintenance costs worth USD 3.3 million dollars. LRA using their own internally generated funds will be meeting the cost of maintenances The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has also issued appointment letters for staff to fill various positions in the ITAS implementation governance structures. Information technology (IT) related hardware and accessories were procured and delivered to LRA to support SIGTAS and subsequently the new ITAS implementation. Going forward, the mission urged LRA to pay keen interest to implementation challenges and ensure contract management does not dilute the contractual rights available to LRA in the existing ITAS contract. ITAS implementation will take 24 months and will be in two phases. o Technical Assistance to support preparations for the VAT Implementation has commenced. In line with earlier mission recommendations the project signed a contract with consultants who will support government to validate the draft White Paper, draft VAT law and VAT implementation strategy. Government has also hired an Economic Governance Consultant (EGC) to support implementation and rollout of the VAT reform beyond Ministry of Finance and Liberia Revenue Authority. Component 2: Stabilizing and Strengthening Performance of Financial Controls and Systems. related equipment. o Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) Connectivity: There is need for IFMIS to have a dedicated connectivity to increase speed and availability. It was agreed in the mission that the project will explore options to contract a service provider for connectivity o Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): The mission was happy to note the progress made to date in the implementation of the EFT following the awarding of the contract to INLAKS, although there was a delay in implementation due to various reasons as the EFT was supposed to have been concluded by January 2021. The project has reviewed and validated, the EFT technical and functional requirements with CBL, LRA, FreeBalance, INLAKS (solution provider) and other key stakeholders, prepared the justification for acquiring a BBAN validation application to support the implementation of EFT and tested the MFDP/CBL fiber connectivity to confirm readiness for EFT implementation. The EFT is expected to go live by June 30, 2021. Component 3: Improving Public-Sector Capacity for Enhanced Oversight and Accountability o The GoL signed a contract to migrate payroll data from the legacy payroll system to the Civil Service Module (CSM) of IFMIS in December 2020. Following upon that, series of meetings were held with the IT provider team on issues relating to dual currency, currency split and decimal points. It was reported that all the issues were resolved. The government team provided data on 67,389 employees for migration. After verification, the IT provider reported that 219 employees did not have gender specified in the data. The IT provider will do a live demonstration of the CSM. After the demonstration, a user acceptance test (UAT) will be conducted. It was discussed and agreed that the government team would prepare a timeline on the outstanding activities till data is fully migrated to the CSM. o Component 4: Improving Upstream and Downstream PFM Systems in Selected Sectors o Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs): Performance-based interventions that tackle some of the core PFM aspects around downstream PFM problems within health and education sectors took place as planned in and agreed to during the project preparation. After the September mission the team noted the progress made as follows, o Independent Verification Report (IVA) report was prepared and reviewed by the two Ministries (MoH and MoE) and other stakeholders. The report was issued and cleared by the World Bank and establishing eligibility for the use of $750,000 from the project funds. o DLI 1 – A review of the MoH system for submission of quarterly financial reports from the county facilities and County Health Teams (CHT) showed that reports have been submitted from the aforementioned county levels to the Office of Financial Management (OFM) at the MoH. However, confirmation from the MFDP showed that quarterly financial reports were not 4/29/2021 Page 2 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) submitted timely by the OFM to the MFDP per the verification protocols of the DLI. Hence, the IVA could not corroborate the number of reports received from county levels with the MFDP figures. Because this finding undermines the achievement of the result target foreseen under this indicator, the World Bank will withhold the disbursement of US$250,000 to the MoH. o DLI 2 – Results met all the agreed protocols with respect to the participation of units within the MoH in the planning and budgeting processes during the period under consideration. The World Bank will therefore release of US$250,000 to the MoH per the provisions of the Financing Agreement. o DLI 3 – Results verified met all the agreed protocols with respect to the development and existence of a Human Resources (HR) database with twelve (12) critical fields. The IVA noted that the database was populated within existing data consistent with the result target foreseen in the Financing Agreement for this indicator. The World Bank will therefore release US$250,000 to MoE per the provisions of the Financing Agreement. o DLI 4 – Documents verified by the IVA proved that an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee (IMCC) was established and approved by the Liberian Cabinet, and that monthly meetings of the Committee were held, and decisions taken documented. The IVA also verified that actions were taken on decisions reached during the Committee’s meetings. The World Bank will therefore release US$250,000 to the MoE per the provisions of the Financing Agreement. Risks Systematic Operations Risk-rating Tool Risk Category Rating at Approval Previous Rating Current Rating Political and Governance High High High Macroeconomic Substantial Substantial Substantial Sector Strategies and Policies Substantial Substantial Substantial Technical Design of Project or Program Substantial Substantial Substantial Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Substantial Substantial Substantial Sustainability Fiduciary High Substantial Substantial Environment and Social Low Low Low Stakeholders Substantial Substantial Moderate Other -- -- -- Overall Substantial Substantial Substantial Results PDO Indicators by Objectives / Outcomes 4/29/2021 Page 3 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) 1: Improved online on time filing for large and medium taxpayers IN00976697 ►ITAS Online, on time, large and medium taxpayer filing ratio for income tax, excise tax , and Goods and Services Tax (GST) (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 55.00 Date 29-Nov-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 21-Oct-2024 The ‘on-time filing rate’ is the number of declarations filed by the statutory due date as a percentage of the total number of declarations expected from registered taxpayers, i.e. expressed as a ratio: Average of the (Number of on time PAYE, Excise and GST Returns filed by due date divided by number of expected declarations/returns from registered PAYE, Excise and GST) X 100). ‘On-time’ filing means declarations (also known as ‘returns’) filed by the statutory due date for filing (plus any ‘days of grace’ applied by the Comments: tax administration as a matter of administrative policy. ‘Expected declarations’ means the number of Large/Medium taxpayer PAYE, Excise and GST declarations that the tax administration expected to receive from registered CIT taxpayers that were required by law to file declarations. The Value percentage remains 0, which is in line with the M&E plan, the percentage is expected to increase to 20% in October 2022 2: Increased use of IFMIS in PFM and implementation of e-Procurement IN00976625 ►MACs submitting to CAG quarterly financial statements using IFMIS data in a timely fashion (within 15 working days from end of quarter) (Percentage, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 25.00 25.00 28.00 107.00 Date 18-Apr-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 21-Oct-2024 3: Improved timeliness in review of audited reports of Government accounts IN00976696 ►Frequency of PAC follow-up through GAC on implementation of annual performance audit observations and recommendations (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 10.00 Date 29-Nov-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 20-Oct-2024 Overall Comments PDO On outcome 1 the Value percentage remains 0, which is in line with the M&E plan, the percentage is expected to increase to 20% in October 2022. On outcome 2, although there is an increase by 3 on the Financial Statements submission this is below the planned submission which was suppose to be 35 by this time On outcome 3, the follow up of audit recommendation is not being fully implemented as there are discussions currently on which institution should be responsible for that (PAC/GAC/IAA) 4/29/2021 Page 4 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) Intermediate Results Indicators by Components 1: Enhancing Domestic Revenue Mobilization Sources and Systems IN00976701 ►1: Online ITAS Filing Services available (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No No No Yes Date 29-Nov-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 20-Oct-2024 The Value percentage remains 0, which is in line with the M&E plan, the percentage is expected to Comments: increase to 20% in October 2022. 2: Stabilizing and Strengthening Performance of Financial Controls and Systems IN00976698 ►2: IFMIS launched in 35 additional MACs (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 72.00 50.00 72.00 107.00 Date 18-Apr-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 20-Oct-2024 3 out of 6 MACs piloted by the EDMS are currently using the system to process payments. Comments: Government plans to run IFMIS Budget Module parallel with legacy system-Budget Management System IN00976703 Number of MACs using the civil service module (CSM) (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 29.00 IN00976704 ►3: Intermediate Indicator 3: e-Procurement modernization roadmap developed (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No No No Yes Date 10-Jan-2019 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 20-Oct-2024 The roadmap is expected in October 2021 Comments: IN00976707 ►E-procurement system functional in Ministries of Finance,Health and Education (Text, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target No e-procurement No e-procurement No e-procurement E-procurement system Value system functional in the system functional in the system functional in functional in the MFDP, MOE and MOH MFDP, MOE and MOH the MFDP, MOE and MFDP, MOE and MOH 4/29/2021 Page 5 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) MOH yet however, preparation of the review the Public Procurement and Concessions Act is at an advanced stage Date 10-Jan-2019 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 20-Oct-2024 3: Improving Public-Sector Capacity for Enhanced Oversight and Accountability IN00976699 ►4: Number of MACs and government policies/programs subject to Performance Audit (Number) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 1.00 6.00 6.00 7.00 Date 18-Apr-2018 17-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 20-Oct-2024 The number of performance Audits have exceed the planned target for the period under implementation Comments: by 2 IN00976705 ►5: Number of citizens and CSO representatives that participate in annual budget discussions and are updated on the implementation of the year prior’s citizen recommendations to budget (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 79.00 102.00 350.00 Date 18-Apr-2018 17-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 21-Oct-2024 IN00976709 Citizen participating in annual budget discussions proportion of which is female (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 13.00 18.00 50.00 IN00976710 Citizens participating in annual budget discussions, proportion of which are from outside of Monrovia (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 10.00 17.00 40.00 4: Improving Upstream and Downstream PFM Systems in Selected Sectors IN00976700 ►DLI1: Increase the percentage of (a) County Facility Level and (b) County Health Team Levels submission of financial reports to MoH within ten (10) working days of the end of each quarter (Text, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 7%, 10% 7%,10% 7%,10% 94%, 90% Date 15-Apr-2019 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 30-Jun-2023 4/29/2021 Page 6 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) Percentage of MoH departments and units that submit their quarterly financial reports at the a) county (facility) and b) CHT levels in a timely manner. 'Timely' means within ten working days of the end of the quarter. Comments: The submission from County level and county Health team was slowed down due to the slow implementation of the system thank links MoH and counties during CoVID, this is expected to improve and by the time of Mid Term Review the project should have reached the mark. IN00976702 ►DLI2 - Increase in percentage of MoH units that are Participating in Planning and Budgeting Processes (Percentage, Custom, PBC) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 9.00 9.00 24.00 75.00 Date 19-Dec-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 30-Jun-2023 Number of MoH departments and units participating in planning and budgeting processes Comments: IN00976706 ►DLI3: MoE HR Database checked and reconciled through verification of HR personnel records at the public schools (Text, Custom, PBC) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Examination and analysis of the database by IVA revealed that the MoE is making progress in MoE HR Database has MoE does not have aspect to the At least 75 not been checked and consolidated view of its development and (cumulative) of the reconciled through HR. Existing MoE data Value existence of a HR public schools have verification of HR inconsistent, not database with twelve been checked to vet personnel records at the reconciled with actual (12) critical fields. The personnel data public schools. data on the ground IVA noted that the database was populated with existing data consistent with the result Date 15-Apr-2019 24-Sep-2020 09-Apr-2021 30-Jun-2023 Existence and integrity of MoE personnel database, as per data from schools Comments: IN00976708 ►DLI4 - Improved Personnel Management of the education sector to improve teachers monitoring (Text, Custom, PBC) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Conduct an analysis of Personnel Database at least 100 percent of No automated No Automated with twelve (12) critical teachers’ payroll data reconciliation between Reconciliation between fields and populated in public schools and Value HR databases for MoE; HR database for MOE using existing data publish the CSA and the respective CSA and the respective was achieved for Year consolidated results of public schools. Public schools One. the analysis on annual basis. Date 19-Dec-2018 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 30-Jun-2023 Comments: Development of quarterly payroll data analyses 4/29/2021 Page 7 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) Performance-Based Conditions IN00976711 ►PBC 1 DLI1: Increase the percentage of (a) County and (b) County Heath Team level financial reports to MOH within ten (10) working days of the end of each quarter (Text, Outcome, 1,000,000.00, 0.00%) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) June 30, 2023 Value 7%, 10% 24%,32% 24%,32% 94%, 90% Date -- 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 -- IN00976712 ►PBC 2 DLI2 - Increase in percentage of MoH units that are Participating in Planning and Budgeting Processes (Percentage, Intermediate Outcome, 1,000,000.00, 0.00%) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) June 30, 2023 Value 9.00 9.00 24.00 -- Date -- 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 -- IN00976713 ►PBC 3 DLI3: MoE HR Database checked and reconciled through verification of HR personnel records at the public schools (Text, Outcome, 1,000,000.00, 0.00%) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) June 30, 2023 MoE HR Database has not MoE does not have Development and been checked and consolidated view of its existence of a Human reconciled through HR. Existing MoE data Value Resources (HR) database -- verification of HR personnel inconsistent, not with twelve (12) critical records at the public reconciled with actual fields was concluded schools. data on the ground Date -- 24-Sep-2020 09-Apr-2021 -- IN00976714 ►PBC 4 DLI4 - Improved Personnel Management of the education sector to improve teachers monitoring (Text, Intermediate Outcome, 1,000,000.00, 0.00%) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) June 30, 2023 No automated No Automated Inter-Ministerial Value reconciliation between HR Reconciliation between Coordination Committee -- databases for MoE; CSA HR database for MOE (IMCC) was established 4/29/2021 Page 8 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) and the respective public CSA and the respective and approved by the schools. Public schools Liberian Cabinet Date -- 24-Sep-2020 08-Apr-2021 -- Data on Financial Performance Disbursements (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P165000 IDA-D5060 Effective USD 19.00 19.00 0.00 11.95 7.69 61% P165000 IDA-V1080 Closed USD 3.86 0.00 3.86 0.00 0.00 0% P165000 TF-B3178 Effective USD 1.99 1.99 0.00 1.48 0.51 74% Key Dates (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Orig. Closing Date Rev. Closing Date P165000 IDA-D5060 Effective 16-Jul-2019 28-Aug-2019 15-Sep-2019 31-Oct-2024 31-Oct-2024 P165000 IDA-V1080 Closed 26-Jul-2017 01-Aug-2017 01-Aug-2017 01-May-2018 31-Oct-2019 P165000 TF-B3178 Effective 11-Aug-2020 04-Sep-2020 04-Sep-2020 31-Oct-2024 31-Oct-2024 Cumulative Disbursements 4/29/2021 Page 9 of 10 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening (P165000) PBC Disbursement Achievement Disbursed amount in Disbursement % PBC ID PBC Type Description Coc PBC Amount Status Coc for PBC Restructuring History There has been no restructuring to date. Related Project(s) P172654-AF - Liberia: Public Financial Management Reforms for Institutional Strengthening ,P176779-PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT REFORMS FOR INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING PROJECT 4/29/2021 Page 10 of 10