Reforming local extrabudgetary funds in Egypt: lessons from China

Abstract

This thesis research project â Reforming local extrabudgetary funds in Egypt: Lessons from Chinaâ was supervised by Jennifer Bremer and Khaled Zakaria Amin, and submitted to the American University of Cairo by Domenica Gräfin von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos. It engages with the question of how to reform local extra-budgetary funds (EBFs) in Egypt, in explicit recognition of their high costs and risks to good budget governance, as well as their potential both, to boost local needs-based development now and, in the mean time, to provide a valuable testing ground for fiscal decentralisation reforms in the future, as the experience of China demonstrates. Progressing analytically from the general to the specific, this research starts by extracting general lessons from comparing and contrasting international public finance advice on EBFs with the experience of China in the context of national fiscal decentralisation reform since the 1980s. These provide the foundation for a SWOT analysis of the local EBF governance framework in Egypt. The final section applies both transferrable international lessons learned and national insights gained to the case of governorate-level local services and development account management, and develops short-term reform recommendations. The conclusion synthesises this research project's findings into a single local EBF reform strategy outline for Egypt. Findings are based on a review of the public finance literature on EBFs and on the Chinese experience, a review of the pertinent Egyptian legislation and literature, and structured, open-ended interviews with stake holding senior Egyptian officials and researchers.

Department

Public Policy & Administration Department

Date of Award

2-1-2010

Online Submission Date

September 2012

First Advisor

Bremer, Jennifer

Second Advisor

Amin, Khaled

Document Type

Thesis

Extent

125 p.

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. The author has granted the American University in Cairo or its agents a non-exclusive license to archive this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study, and to make it accessible, in whole or in part, in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.

IRB

Not necessary for this item

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