The Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) places high priority on good governance, and sound public financial management is one of the key elements of good governance. Over the past decade, Bhutan has been making steady progress in strengthening public financial management covering budget preparation, budget execution, control, reporting and oversight. There is increased legislative oversight on budget approval through a Finance Committee and of audit reports through a Public Accounts Committee. As in other countries, the public at large has become more demanding in terms of transparent and efficient government. The purpose of the assessment of the Public Financial Management (PFM) performance of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) was threefold: (i) to assess the quality (strengths and weaknesses) of PFM in the country against generally accepted international standards
(ii) to assess progress since the last Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment in 2010, and (iii) to provide RGoB and other stakeholders with a common source of information as a basis for further dialogue on PFM reforms. This assessment was carried out under the approach of full ownership by RGoB and self-assessment by its officials, with technical support from World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).