IMF Fiscal Reforms in Southeast Europe Program: Phase III (SEE III) Mid-term external evaluation

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SECO

Project number

2025-WEMU124/SECO-063.514

Project title

IMF Fiscal Reforms in Southeast Europe Program: Phase III (SEE III) Mid-term external evaluation

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Short description (English)	The mid-term evaluation of the SEE III Programme shows that the IMF’s support for revenue administration, public financial management, and tax policy in the Western Balkans has achieved solid progress overall. All three workstreams were rated between “largely achieved” and “partially achieved,” with particularly strong results in efficiency, impact, and sustainability despite difficult reform environments. Revenue Administration and Public Financial Management performed better than in earlier phases, supported by regional experts, peer-learning initiatives, and more mature institutional frameworks. The PFM workstream advanced in public investment management and fiscal risk oversight, while the tax policy component made initial progress in strengthening tax policy units and analytical tools such as Tax Expenditure Analysis. Ongoing challenges include political uncertainty, limited technical capacity, and reform delays. The evaluation recommends strengthening logframe-based monitoring, improving reporting, adding a project coordination role, and reducing unallocated administrative costs. Related documents WEMU 124 Evaluation Report Annex I [PDF] 4'714 kB WEMU 124 Evaluation Report Annex II [PDF] 10'570 kB WEMU 124 Evaluation Report [PDF] 1'212 kB WEMU 124 MR Action Plan [PDF] 156 kB

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Short description
(English)

The mid-term evaluation of the SEE III Programme shows that the IMF’s support for revenue administration, public financial management, and tax policy in the Western Balkans has achieved solid progress overall. All three workstreams were rated between “largely achieved” and “partially achieved,” with particularly strong results in efficiency, impact, and sustainability despite difficult reform environments. Revenue Administration and Public Financial Management performed better than in earlier phases, supported by regional experts, peer-learning initiatives, and more mature institutional frameworks. The PFM workstream advanced in public investment management and fiscal risk oversight, while the tax policy component made initial progress in strengthening tax policy units and analytical tools such as Tax Expenditure Analysis. Ongoing challenges include political uncertainty, limited technical capacity, and reform delays. The evaluation recommends strengthening logframe-based monitoring, improving reporting, adding a project coordination role, and reducing unallocated administrative costs.