Making spending more productive begins with better allocation, effective implementation, and robust institutions to support this process.
Finance ministries across Asean+3 face mounting pressures from ageing populations, climate adaptation, rapid technological change, infrastructure upgrades and in some cases national security — while grappling with rising debt service burden.
With large tax hikes politically unpalatable and broad spending cuts threatening growth and social cohesion, policymakers are shifting focus from spending more to spending better.
