On December 15–17, 2014 we delivered a workshop on “Managing Spending and Keeping the Budget on Track.” The workshop was funded by the European Commission as part of a joint IMF and EC supported project to improve economic governance of the Western Balkans. Edina Halapi, Program Manager at Delegation of the European Union to Albania and one of the workshop`s lecturers shared with us her opinion about the workshop.

Strengthening capacities at the line ministries would improve budget inputs to the ministries of finance and strategic macro-fiscal documents of the EU (potential) candidate countries.

As a participant, I was involved in the two SPB courses jointly organized by the CEF and JVI at ReSPA facilities in Montenegro; the course on Macroeconomic Policy Analysis in January 2014, and the course…

Continuation and extension of the Strategic Planning and Budgeting (SPB) project could benefit more Turkish officials, and importantly contribute to further develop capacity of Turkish institutions.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently investing efforts into introducing program budgeting. The knowledge and good practice shared at the Strategic Planning and Budgeting (SPB) project helps me and my colleagues…

Montenegro is currently implementing a medium-term budgeting framework; these efforts emphasize the importance of learning from other countries’ good practices. The ministry of finance has an important…

Challenges of significant staff fluctuations in the public sector reinforce the need for capacity development, such as provided at the Strategic Planning and Budgeting (SPB) project.

Clear vision and implementation of European Commission's recommendations on structural reforms will help Montenegro get closer to the EU accession.