Over the last ten years, Papua New Guinea has experienced a minerals boom that has led to a rapid rise in revenue and subsequent increases in public expenditure. However, PNG has struggled to translate the benefits of its resource wealth into effective development outcomes.

In an effort to better understand if service delivery conditions and challenges to the PNG Government’s key expenditure reforms, the Promoting Effective Public Expenditure Project completed extensive expenditure tracking and facility surveys across eight provinces in 2012. Survey teams visited 216 schools and over 140 health facilities in some of PNG’s most remote and isolated communities to complete over 1250 separate surveys.

Following the release of preliminary findings from the surveys in September 2013, April’s Budget Forum presented further analysis of survey data, related to key policy reforms aimed at improving PNG’s health and education services, especially the Tuition Free Education Policy and Free Primary Health Care Policy. The forum also presented analysis of the 2014 PNG National Budget, which has undergone major changes through incorporating both recurrent and development budgets.

Speakers for the forum included senior government officials, academics, researchers, policymakers, and NGOs which are directly involved in budgeting as well as health and education service delivery in PNG.

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To find out more about the project, click here.