The Public Expenditure Review (PER) for Nine Pacific Island Countries – titled Raising Pasifika: Strengthening Government Finances to Enhance Human Capital in the Pacific – aims to improve the efficiency of public spending in the health, education, and social sectors, and to increase domestic revenues across nine Pacific Island Countries (specifically, the ‘PIC-9’): Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Public finance has a critical role to play in building the knowledge, skills, and health that people need to reach their potential (known as ‘human capital’). This is a central element for a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery.
This new World Bank report provides a set of recommendations for the PIC-9 governments to address many of their key public spending challenges and ultimately help each country and the wider Pacific region achieve its development goals.
