From Budget Control to Development Results
Activity-Based Budgeting for Development Management, Evidence-Based Learning, and Public Accountability in Liberia
Public spending should be connected to measurable results.
Liberia’s public financial management system records what government authorizes and spends, but available reporting offers limited evidence linking expenditures to the activities, services, and outcomes they support. This paper proposes a practical, phased approach to strengthening that connection without replacing existing budget controls.
Recurrent expenditure
Share of Liberia’s revised FY2024 budget allocated to recurrent spending.
Public investment
Share allocated to the Public Sector Investment Program in FY2024.
Reported execution
A high reported financial execution rate does not, by itself, demonstrate development outcomes.
Figures cited in the paper from Liberia’s FY2024 budget performance reporting. Interpretations and source references are provided in the full article.
A practical framework for Activity-Based Budgeting
The article proposes a dual-coded ABB framework: retain administrative and economic classifications for financial control while connecting allocations to programs, activities, institutions, outputs, indicators, targets, costs, funding sources, and locations.
01 · Preserve controls
Maintain existing expenditure classifications and legal accountability.
02 · Trace implementation
Link appropriations and expenditures to defined activities, services, and outputs.
03 · Learn and improve
Use verified financial and performance evidence to guide budget decisions and phased expansion.
Four proposed pilot sectors
The proposed pilots would test service delivery and institutional transfers alongside capital investment and maintenance.
From Budget Control to Development Results
Activity-Based Budgeting for Development Management, Evidence-Based Learning, and Public Accountability in Liberia
Haven Wesseh Yarl · PDF · 9 pages
Read the complete research
Explore the analysis, proposed implementation strategy, pilot design, monitoring and evaluation framework, institutional safeguards, and references.
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Suggested citation
Yarl, H. W. (n.d.). From budget control to development results: Activity-based budgeting for development management, evidence-based learning, and public accountability in Liberia. MADRA. https://abb.madraliberia.org/
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