Weak public financial management continues to be a major factor reducing the adequacy of resources for available service delivery in the public sector. In the recent past, many states in Nigeria have experienced an almost complete breakdown in their Public Financial Management (PFM) systems. There is often no medium-term framework for PFM; budgets are often prepared without consultation and the resulting budgets are accordingly neither  realistic nor subsequently followed. Timely accurate accounts and audits are not delivered and the public has no access to information on expenditure plans or outcomes.

Since 2004, consultants from GRID have been assisting many State Governments to tackle some of their PFM weaknesses. These have included the following interventions:

□       Development and implementation of a new State Government budget classification systems

□      Supporting the Ministry of Planning and Budget (MOPB) with the development and implementation of a new budget preparation software

□      Working with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to improve their Financial Management Information System (FMIS)

□      Building capacity within the MOPB and MoF in the application of information technology, operation systems and institutionalising FMIS process.

□      Supporting State Governments with the establishment and management of the State’s Debt Management Unit

□      Supporting a platform approach in the preparation of the state governments’ annual budgets

□      Conducting Public Expenditure Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessments

□     Instigating a substantial number of interventions (within the DFID-funded PATHS and PRRINN programmes) in Public Health Financing, including:

     Health care intervention cost assessments

     Health Care Budgeting

     Financial Flow Analyses

     Financial Management Systems in Health Facilities