Economic Reform Unit (ERU)

Background

The Economic Reform Unit (ERU) was established in December 2008 to coordinate with Asian Development Bank assisted Sindh Growth and Rural Revitalization Program in the province.

Role of Economic Reform Unit

Over the period of time, the role of ERU has expanded and presently it is one of the most important part of Government of Sindh in steering reforms activities assisted by the donor partners. The overarching goal of the ERU is to coordinate with the provincial stakeholders and the donor partners to (i) streamline public financial management reform process, and to (ii) improve public finance management to contribute to poverty reduction and improving service delivery.

The Economic Reform Unit is a specialized unit in Finance Department, and plays a key role in assisting Government to development overarching strategies and multiyear action plans thereunder. In order to systemically implementation of these reforms, it effectively coordinates with the international development partners and provincial line departments to effectively implement on reforms initiative.

Currently, ERU is implementing public sector governance reforms under the following donor funded projects/programmes:

• Project Management Unit of the World Bank funded Sindh Public Sector Management Reform Project (SPSMRP)
• European Union’s Public Financial Management Support Programme for Pakistan(PFM-II)
• World Bank funded Government of Pakistan’s Program-for-Results (PforR), Public Financial Management and Accountability to Support Service Delivery
• Pro-Poor Social Protection and Economic Sustainability initiatives Package by Government of Sindh

ERU has a vibrant role in the institutional development of Government of Sindh. As a result of numerous reforms activities, new functional units were established in Finance Department, such as Debt Management Unit, Tax Reform Unit, and Internal Audit Unit. These units play key role in assisting the line departments and tax collecting agencies for better governance.

ERU also supervises the Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF). Presently, the MTBF Cell is supporting in the budget preparation process of the nine departments, comprising of 6,946 (70.5%) cost centers out of total 9,849 cost centers on the current side in the SAP, Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) of the province.

ERU has a great potential and looking forward to work more on the public sector governance reforms for further improvement of the service delivery in the Province of Sindh.