III. Recommendations 364 The APR Panel recommends that Ethiopia: • Establish an autonomous planning agency to strengthen planning functions in the country; divisions of this agency will also be established in regional states; (Government of Ethiopia (GoE; Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) and, • Direct the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Customs and Revenue Authority, in conjunction with the Regional Bureaus of Planning and Economic Development in the states, to take necessary steps to broaden the tax net and enhance other revenue- and grant-mobilising efforts at lower levels of government. (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED); Regional Bureaus of Finance and Economic Development (RBOFED), Customs and Revenue Authority (CRA) Objective Three: Promote Sound Public Finance Management I. Summary of the CSAR Policy Framework 365 Public finance management, and the corresponding legal and administrative policy in Ethiopia, is set in the context of the Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework (MEFF) introduced along with a new indicative financial calendar in 2001/02. The Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework (MTEF) provides for an annual budget and multi-year programming through the Public Investment Programme (PIP). Annual policy statements are made during the budget speech presented to the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR), that is, Parliament. 366 The MEFF is used by government as a tool for establishing the resource envelope and broad sectoral allocations, in line with its overall policy objectives of ending poverty and achieving MDGs targets, while maintaining fiscal discipline. In addition, the MEFF is an instrument by which three-year resources are identified on the basis of the macroeconomic framework. An extended version of the MEFF (stretching to 5 years) has been used in the PASDEP to illustrate the broad financing and affordability implications of the Plan. But it should be emphasised that these 5-year projections can only be indicative. Hence, the MEFF is reviewed at the beginning of each budget cycle. 367 Ethiopia has also adopted a deliberate policy for decentralising its budgetary process by instituting a clear framework and administrative infrastructure - 153 -