Public sector management issues in structural adjustment lending

This paper reviews the Bank's experience in implementing public sector management reforms through structural adjustment lending. The study focuses on those institutional aspects of adjustment that deal with"macro-management"issues related to improvements in the management performance of core central government institutions and to systemic changes in public adminstrations. The paper reached the following broad conclusions; (a) public sector management components of SALs progressed unevenly and outcomes varied with diverse political, administrative and economic conditions; (b) reforms for which routinized methodologies and systems were introduced and those that could be linked to actionable steps were more likely to be sustained over time; (c) short time horizons of SALs posed severe constraints on the effective implementation of public sector management reforms; and (d) reforms through SALs are more successful when supported by specific technical assistance projects. It also concluded that: (e) the haste of SAL schedules and the lack of dynamism and focus of traditional technical assistance argues for the creation of a new lending instrument; (f) country economic and sector work is crucial to successful reforms undertaken through SALs; and (g) monitoring and supervision of institutional components of SALs needs to be systemized and the quality of documentation improved.