Local Public Finance of Territorial Collectivities in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Offers an overview of the decentralization process in Burkina Faso beginning in 1991 with reforms to introduce a pluralist local democracy and improve local development in the face of bankruptcy. The territorial organization includes a decentralized level of regional and local government units and a deconcentrated level of administrative units that recognize the influential component of the customary power structure. Analysis of the decentralized budget, comprised of current and capital sections, shows controversy over ambiguity in the text of laws relating to the constraint of budget balance because provisions are liable to diverse interpretations. Ten areas of competence were transferred to the territorial collectives (CTs) using the principle of progressiveness signifying that the transfer of powers to local governments be carried out gradually. Statistical data on CT expenditures and revenues are abundant, but poorly organized and show that the ratios between capital expenditures and current expenditures are high, and revenues are inconsistent with resources.