A WORLD BANK COUNTRY STUDY Decentralization in Public Disclosure Authorized Madagascar Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized THE WORLD BANK A WORLD BANK COUNTRY STUDY Decentralization in Madagascar THE WORLD BANK Washington, D.C. Copyright © 2004 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing: June 2004 printed on recycled paper 1 2 3 4 06 05 04 World Bank Country Studies are among the many reports originally prepared for internal use as part of the continuing analysis by the Bank of the economic and related conditions of its developing member countries and to facilitate its dialogues with the governments. Some of the reports are published in this series with the least possible delay for the use of governments, and the academic, business, financial, and development communities. The manuscript of this paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formally-edited texts. Some sources cited in this paper may be informal documents that are not readily available. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgment of the legal sta- tus of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The material in this publication is copyrighted. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and normally will grant permission for use. Permission to photocopy items for internal or personal use, for the internal or personal use of specific clients, or for educational classroom use, is granted by the World Bank, provided that the appropriate fee is paid. Please contact the Copyright Clearance Center before photocopying items. Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive Danvers, MA 01923, U.S.A. Tel: 978-750-8400 • Fax: 978-750-4470. For permission to reprint individual articles or chapters, please fax your request with complete information to the Republication Department, Copyright Clearance Center, fax 978-750-4470. All other queries on rights and licenses should be addressed to the World Bank at the address above, or faxed to 202-522-2422. ISBN: 0-8213-5841-3 eISBN: 0-8213-5842-1 ISSN: 0253-2123 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been requested. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract vii Acknowledgments ix Acronyms and Abbreviations xi Executive Summary 1 1. Introduction 7 2. Today’s Decentralization Agenda—Challenges and Institutional Determinants 11 The Legal Framework 11 Deconcentration and Decentralization 13 Control System 18 Regional Planning Bodies 19 Towards a More Service-oriented Administration 21 3. Fiscal Framework 23 The Fiscal Gap 23 Expenditures 25 Revenues 30 Transfers 35 Improving Madagascar’s Fiscal Framework 41 4. Communes 45 Institutional Arrangements at the Commune Level 46 Measuring Commune Finance: Sample and Methodology 49 Commune Needs and Overall Flows of Funds 51 Commune Revenues 53 Commune Expenditures 57 Improving Service Delivery at the Commune Level 61 Annexes Annex A: Matrix of Policy Recommendations 65 Annex B: Distribution of Ministerial Functions 69 Annex C: Revenue Assignment in the 2000 and 2001 Budget 73 Annex D: Deconcentration of Expenditures 75 Annex E: The Local Financing Gap Methodology 79 Annex F: The Representativeness of the 232 Commune Sample 83 Annex G: Local Government Organigram 87 Annex H: Local Government Revenue Assignments 89 Glossary of French and Malagasy Terminology 93 Bibliography 95 iii iv CONTENTS TABLES 2.1 Administrative Parallelism 14 2.2 Personnel and Budget Functions in the Social Sectors 17 2.3 The Control Framework 19 3.1 Possible Expenditure Assignments by Level of Government 26 3.2 Composition of Central Government Expenditures 27 3.3 Possible Revenue Assignments by Level of Government 31 3.4 Revenue Assignments in Madagascar 35 3.5 Combining Objectives and Design 38 3.6 Transfers to Administrative Levels (in million FMG) in 2001 38 3.7 Transfers to Commune Budgets (2001) 39 4.1 Local Financing Gaps (US$ per capita and % of total needs) 51 4.2 Sources of Financing (US$ per capita) 52 4.3 Revenue Items and Collection Mechanism 54 4.4 Revenue Composition of Urban and Rural Communes (estimated) 54 4.5 Own Revenue by Recovery Mechanism 57 4.6 Breakdown of Expenditures in Urban Communes and Communes in the Greater Antananarivo Area 58 4.7 Breakdown of Recurrent Expenditures 59 4.8 Breakdown of Investments 60 4.9 Functional Classification—Overview 61 CHARTS 2.1 Madagascar’s Territorial Administration 16 3.1 Madagascar’s Revenues in the International Context—Government Revenues as a Share of GDP (excluding grants) 1998 24 3.2 Madagascar’s Revenues in the International Context—Government Revenues as a Share of GDP (excluding grants) 2001 24 3.3 Shares of Recurrent Expenditures Executed Below the Center 27 3.4 Social Sector Spending by Administrative Level 28 3.5 Central Government Budgetary Revenue 1998–2000 (in % of GDP) 34 3.6 Delay of Unconditional Transfers to Rural Communes (sample of 15 communes) 40 4.1 Institutional Relationships at the Local Level 50 4.2 Data Sources 50 4.3 Gap per Sector (US$ per capita) 52 4.4 Breakdown of Total Local Revenues 56 4.5 Breakdown of Total Local Taxes 56 4.6 Breakdown of User Fees 57 4.7 Breakdown of Administrative Fees 57 4.8 Economic and Functional Expenditures of Rural Communes 59 CONTENTS v BOXES 2.1 The Intercommunal Association Fianarantsoa-Manakara 20 3.1 Municipal Revenues in South Africa (2001) 33 4.1 Local Development Planning (Plan Communal de Développement, PCD) 47 4.2 Managing Local Security Issues in Uncertain Environments 48 4.3 Case Study of the Schools in the School District of Farafangana and Andilamena 51 4.4 Social Funds and Decentralization—Moving Progressively Away from the Rural-Urban Divide? 55 ABSTRACT his book takes stock of Madagascar’s first 10 years of decentralization. As it happened in Tmany other developing countries, particularly in Africa, Madagascar’s decentralization process has seen reversals, uncertainties and lack of clarity all along. This explains why Madagascar, despite the experience with decentralization, remains a highly centralized country with only about 3–4 percent of expenditures spent below the center and with very few prerogatives decentralized to the local level. Notwithstanding the structural impediments to decentralization in poor countries, many posi- tive lessons can be drawn from the Madagascar case which point to the potentials of the decentral- ization process. This study provides a detailed analysis of local government finances and develops a methodology for measuring local financing needs (local fiscal gap methodology). Based on this analysis, the study argues that a lot can be gained from simplifying administrative arrangements and fiscal relationships. Instead of a full-blown and ambitious decentralization strategy, this book suggests a number of reforms, which would go a long way by making the current structure work better. These reforms include: (i) a full transfer of the (limited) local competencies to commune, particularly local revenue collection; (ii) increasing transfers to rural communes so that per capita allocations would be the same across communes—rural and urban; and (iii) assigning revenues to one level of government only, except for some very specific types of taxes (such as on natural resources). vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS his report presents the results of a close dialogue on decentralization between the World Bank Tand the Government of Madagascar, in particular the former Ministry of Decentralization, as well as Madagascar’s development partners (AfD, Coopération Française, UNDP, EU, GTZ, and Swiss Cooperation). The report builds on extensive research commissioned by the World Bank since 2001. This report has been prepared by a team consisting of Wolfgang Fengler (Task Team Leader, AFTP1), Emanuela Galasso (DECRG), Aurélien Kruse (AFTP1), and Frank-Borge Wietzke (AFTP1). The team has received strong support and guidance from Jesko Hentschel (Lead Economist until September 2003, AFTP1). Dieudonné Randriamanampisoa (Senior Economist, AFTP1) was instrumental in organizing the studies on local government finance, which were carried out by the consultancy Miara Mita and led by Mamy Ralaivelo. These commune finance studies were funded from the Norwegian Trust Fund (managed by Jacomina de Regt, AFTES). The peer reviewers were: Harold Alderman (AFTHD), James Fitz Ford (TUDUR), Jennie Litvack (MNSED), and Dana Weist (PRMPS). The report was prepared under the supervision of Philippe Le Houerou, Sector Manager for AFTP1. He offered conceptual guidance, provided critical analytical advice, and ensured quality control and management support. Hafez Ghanem, Country Director, supported the process and provided overall guidance. Peter Moll, Jesko Hentschel, and Willem van Eeghen commented on earlier versions of the paper. Assistance with editing, communication, and budget management was provided by Cécile Wodon (AFTP1). On the Government side, the team would like to thank the officials in the Malagasy govern- ment as well as provincial, regional, and local authorities who provided important insights for this study. The team worked very closely with the former Ministry of Decentralization, the Ministry of Budget and Finance, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Education. The team appreciated in particular the support received from Hary Andriamboavvonjy Rajaonarivo (Director General) in the State Secretariat for Decentralization as well as Gabhy Rajaonesy (Director of Studies and Transfer of Competencies) and Herilanto Raveloharison (Sec- retary General) in the former Ministry of Decentralization.