Revealed public investment strategy
Last week’s column identified source documents from which the PPP/C’s public investment strategy might be revealed, thereby providing the basis for an assessment of its management. These documents include the National Development Strategy (NDS), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), the National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS) and the PPP/C Manifesto (Indeed the last highlights the role of the previous four source documents). Additionally, there are the sector plans of government ministries/agencies and state enterprises.
I had also indicated last week that the government’s public investment strategy is the first of four sequential phases in which it is managed. However, while the referenced source documents catalogue most (but not all) of government’s projects (including the ‘troubled’ ones), they also identify other projects, which have not been finalized. Given its origins therefore, the indicated investment strategy is best described as the government’s revealed preference.
Consequences
Two consequences follow. First, limited resources prevent all identified projects from