Enduring Centralization

Abstract

This chapter explores the period between 2001 and 2021 when Afghanistan was the center of attention by major international donors—especially, the United States of America. It particularly focuses on the post-2001 reforms of Afghanistan’s public finance management system. In addition to explaining how and why Afghanistan ended up with the same old, centralized model of governance, this chapter unpacks how the centralized public finance management system remained unchanged despite numerous efforts to decentralize it. Likewise, this chapter provides a general description of the most recent planning and budgeting reforms that became the basis of provincial planning and budgeting since 2015.