Public investment is likely to be an important component of any postcrisis recovery programme. As countries work to ensure a smart, green, fair recovery, investing in modern, resilient and efficient infrastructure assets will be key. This How to Note discusses how countries should manage public investments to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and similar crises. It provides countries with guidance on making efficient use of public investment to support economic recovery on three different capacity levels: basic, medium and advanced.
The main advice of the note is as follows:
- Countries should consolidate and accelerate existing project-planning and decision-making procedures.
- The public investment plan (PIP) should be revisited, and possible changes made to the prioritization and phasing of projects, accelerating some and deferring or canceling others.
- Project appraisals may need to be updated and supplemented with revised criteria.
- The government should define clear selection criteria based on the targets for the overall recovery programme.
- The postcrisis investment programme should be reflected in transparent medium-term budget decisions.
- Maintenance and capital repairs can be very productive and should play important roles in postcrisis recovery.
- Procurement processes may need accelerating but should be undertaken with necessary safeguards to support compliance and effective oversight.
- Strong project management is necessary to ensure that projects are implemented according to the planned timetable and within the budget, as well as to produce the expected benefits.
- Portfolio monitoring is essential for assessing progress and assuring the successful implementation of the overall project portfolio in the postcrisis recovery programme.