862(XLII) Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilizations
Resolutions Adopted by the Commission at its Forty-Second Session
862(XLII) Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilizations
The Conference of Ministers,
Recalling the outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey Mexico, from 18 to 22 March 2002 and the Doha Declaration issued at the follow-up international Conference on Financing for Development held in Doha, Qatar from 29 November to 2 December 2008,
Recognizing the importance of domestic resource mobilization in providing stable and predictable finance for sustained growth and poverty reduction in Africa,
Notingthe critical and complementary roles of the public and private sectors in mobilizing domestic resources and translating them into productive investments for sustained growth and poverty reduction,
Concerned about the severe negative effects of the current financial and economic crisis on resource mobilization in Africa as well as the implications for growth and prospects for meeting the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 target date,
Awareof the need to increase domestic resource mobilization to bridge the gap between domestic savings and investment requirements;
- Reaffirms the importance of good governance at national and international levels in the successful mobilization of domestic resources and calls on African countries to deepen governance reforms, increase transparency in the use of public funds, and strengthen efforts to improve management of natural resources;
- Calls upon African governments to enhance domestic revenue mobilization by broadening the tax base improving tax administration, increasing accountability, addressing tax evasion, fraud and avoidance as well as efficiency in the use of public resources;
- Encourages African governments to provide more support for private sector development as a viable strategy to increase private investment, boost growth, and lay a solid foundation for effective domestic resource mobilization;
- Appeals to donors to reinforce Africa's resource mobilization efforts by taking appropriate actions to stem capital flight, reduce the cost of sending remittances, provide technical assistance to strengthen public financial management systems, and direct more official development assistance towards building national capacities for domestic resource mobilization.
- Requests African countries to be more selective in the use of tax incentives as well as exemptions for promoting foreign investment and adopt a gradual approach to multilateral trade liberalization to ensure that trade reforms do not crode the fiscal basic and jeopardize the achievement of national development goals.
- Urges African governments to make more efforts to boost private savings through building and strengthening domestic financial system, maintaining political and macroeconomic stability, and exploiting the potential of microfinance institutions for mobilization of savings in the informal sector;
- Stresses the need for financial market development to increase liquidity through pooling of savings, reduce transaction costs, enhance financial intermediation and promote growth and development;
- Stresses the need for structural transformation of African economies through modernization of agriculture and value-chain development and facilitating industrial growth and manufacturing to promote sustained growth;
- Calls upon African governments to enhance budget formulation and use as an effective instrument for economic policy management.