EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _____________________________________________________________________ overlap and there is poor coordination between controlling bodies. Furthermore, there is incompetence, a lack of transparency in their operations, and they lack the authority and power to submit cases to court. There is also an absence of political support for these institutions. These factors all contribute to the low credibility of public resource management and undermine its ability to wage a real battle against corruption. 4.26 The creation of the Supreme State Control Authority (ASCE) – which integrates the functions of the General State Inspectorate (IGE), the HACLC and some of the responsibilities of the National Coordination against Fraud (CNLF) – would provide an initial solution to these problems. It has increased powers to submit cases to court and to publish annual reports. Moreover, the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which is being promoted in the administration, could enhance institutional capacities to fight against corruption and to achieve the objectives of EGM. 4.27 The phenomenon of money laundering does not seem to be a concern in Burkina Faso. However, a law was recently promulgated and a structure, the National Financial Information Processing Unit (CENTIF), established to reflect the guidelines of WAEMU. 4.5 Acceleration of regional integration by harmonising monetary/commercial policies and investment 4.28 Promoting regional integration is a priority for Burkina Faso. This is seen in the signing and ratification of several regional integration agreements. The country has ratified all the legal and regulatory provisions adopted by WAEMU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It has also signed and ratified the treaties on the creation of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CENSAD) and Liptako-Gourma. These agreements were reinforced by the creation of an institutional framework in charge of monitoring them: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation. 4.29 The process of harmonising the macroeconomic policies with the standards of WAEMU is based on the Convergence, Stability, Growth and Solidarity Pact, which is monitored by the multilateral surveillance of the convergence criteria. The convergence criteria for the tax system have not been respected in Burkina Faso since 1999 because of the structural weaknesses of Burkina’s tax base. On the other hand, the country has respected the criteria associated with the public debt policy, thanks to the efforts made according to the framework of the HIPC Initiative, since 1999. 4.30 Burkina Faso adopted the legal, accounting and statistics framework for public finance in 2003 and the Common External Tariff (CET) in 2000 to harmonise national economic policies with WAEMU standards. However, Burkina Faso continued to add national taxes to it. These would increase the cost of imports to Burkina Faso and impede the establishment of the free trade zone. Furthermore, although the WAEMU provisions on the preferential trade 16