Norway’s provision of budget support to developing countries : guidelines

The initial guidelines for Norway's provision of budget support to developing countries were approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2004. The guidelines were developed in order to clarify Norwegian policy related to budget support, and to serve as a practical guide in budget support operations. The guidelines applied to general budget support and sector budget support, and they also covered budget support to fragile states.

These revised guidelines are based on and replace the initial guidelines. They are aligned with the structure of the latest (2005) version of the Norwegian development Cooperation Manual. Hence, the Development Cooperation Manual forms the starting point also for budget support with these guidelines as a supplement on specific issues. This revision has taken on board some of the main recommendations from the OECD/DAC Guidelines on budget support of 2006 and the OECD/DAC Evaluation of General Budget Support finalised in April 2006. The guidelines cover general and sector budget support, as well as budget support to fragile states. Support channelled to the treasury for specific project implementation is not covered by these guidelines.

The Development Cooperation Manual should be used as point of departure when applying these guidelines. The Practical Guide to Assessment of Sustainability Elements/Cross-Cutting Issues should be applied where relevant. When using these guidelines for sector budget support, reference is made to the Practical Guide for Sector Development Programmes.