This article analyses evidence for each of the expected benefits of budget support in turn, and finds the biggest improvements in the pro-poor nature of public expenditure and public financial management. More modest improvements are noted in the predictability of aid and the burden of transaction costs, while less is known about the real effects on domestic accountability. Underlying them all is an assessment that programmes are incapable of 'buying' reforms. Drawing on the analysis, seven areas are highlighted where budget support design can be strengthened vis-à-vis its original rationale.

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In the decade following the end of the civil war, the Government of Sierra Leone made substantial progress in strengthening public financial management. Improvements were achieved across all aspects of the budget cycle and were particularly notable with regard to budget execution functions. The main factors that appear to have contributed to these improvements are a strong starting position at the beginning of the ceasefire; political appetite for public financial management reforms; a cadre of motivated and professional local technical advisors; and considerable international support coordinated through budget support operations.

Typescript prepared by Janis Vehmaan-Kreula at UNU-WIDER. UNU-WIDER gratefully acknowledges specific programme contributions from the governments of Denmark (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Danida) and Sweden (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency-Sida) for ReCom. UNU-WIDER also gratefully acknowledges core financial support to its work programme from the governments of Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.The World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) was established by the United Nations University (UNU) as its first research and training centre and started work in Helsinki, Finland in 1985. The Institute undertakes applied research and policy analysis on structural changes affecting the developing and transitional economies, provides a forum for the advocacy of policies leading to robust, equitable and environmentally sustainable growth, and promotes capacity strengthening and training in the field of economic and social policy-making. Work is carried out by staff researchers and visiting scholars in Helsinki and through networks of collaborating scholars and institutions around the world.