TOGO

Togo is a unitary State with a single-chamber parliament (National Assembly), a judiciary and an executive headed by a president of the Republic elected by direct universal suffrage. The country’s current constitution, adopted on 14 October 1992, was amended in 2002, 2007 and 2019.

Article 141 of Law 2019-003 of 15 May 2019 on the revision of the constitution provides for the organisation of the country into local and regional authorities on the basis of the principle of decentralisation while respecting national unity. These local and regional authorities are the communes and the regions, which are administered autonomously by councillors elected by universal suffrage in accordance with the law.

Law 2007-011 of 13 March 2007 on Decentralisation and Local Freedoms, amended by Law 2018-003 of 31 January 2018 and Law 2019-006 of 26 June 2019, is the main legal framework for decentralisation. Article 2 of this law states: “"The national territory is divided into local and regional authorities with legal personality and financial autonomy.” As a result, Law 2017-008 of 29 June 2017 amended by Law 2019-001 of 9 January 2019 created 117 communes throughout the country. Decrees establishing the geographical jurisdiction and chief towns of the communes in the regions as well as those specifying the number of councillors and the number of deputy mayors per commune have been issued.

Since the 1987 local elections, municipal councillors were again elected in the country on 30 June 2019. They took up their duties following the official handover ceremonies which took place from 11 to 16 October 2019. The special delegations established in the prefectures and communes in 2001 were then dissolved.

In 2016, the government adopted a roadmap for decentralisation and local elections, with a timetable for implementation, giving renewed interest to the decentralisation process. The aim was to promote local development. This governmental commitment has led to the provision of local planning and management tools and to the gradual transfer of powers and revenues. This political will was also reflected in the revision of texts leading to the change in the decentralised landscape, which previously consisted of five regions, 32 prefectures and 21 communes, before the constitutional revision of May 2019.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2021)
117 communes	1 autonomous district of Greater Lomé	5 regions	123
Average municipal size: 74 039
117	1	05	123

Name and number of sub-communal entities:

387 cantons

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Following the last constitutional amendment, the administrative organisation of the country has been based on regions, communes and autonomous districts as decentralised subnational governments. The prefectures that were part of the decentralised system were abolished and were transformed into administrative subdivisions of the State. The country's decentralised entities now consist of five regions, 117 communes and the autonomous district of Greater Lomé.

REGIONAL LEVEL: The administrative division of the country reveals inequalities that influence the size of the municipalities. Indeed, the Savannah region and the maritime region (excluding Greater Lomé), which cover a little more than a quarter of the country's surface area (14 384 km²), have 35 communes (30%), 131 cantons (34%) and are home to 2.209 million inhabitants, i.e. 28% of the total population. The other regions (Plateau, Centrale and Kara) have a surface area of 41 843 km², i.e. 74%, with 69 communes (59%) and 243 cantons (63%), with a population of 3.574 million, representing 45% of the total population. The Greater Lomé area, where the capital is located, occupies barely 1% of the surface area (373 km²) and comprises 13 communes (11%) and 13 cantons (3%), with 27% of the population (2.112 million inhabitants). In total, 40% of the regions (two-fifths), which cover 26% of the territory, accommodate 55% of the population. The remaining 60% (three-fifths), covering 41 843 km², is populated by 45% of the country’s inhabitants.

The bodies intended to administer the regions are the regional council and the executive board of the regional council. At the beginning of 2022, the regions are not yet operational, but the central government is represented by the prefects.

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL: In Togo, the intermediate level is the autonomous district, a particular territorial entity (art. 323 of the Decentralisation Act) which “groups together a set of communes as local and regional authorities and prefectures as administrative subdivisions (art. 324)”. Therefore, the autonomous district of Greater Lomé is a special territorial entity with legal personality and financial autonomy. It is the local authority representing the city of Lomé as a whole (art.1 Law 2019-018 of 15 November 2019).

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: The disparities observed at the regional level are reflected in the communes because of their different statuses. Indeed, the country has 50 urban communes, i.e., 43% of the total, which are home to 64% of the population; and 67 rural communes (57%) populated by the remaining 36% of the inhabitants. The average size of urban municipalities is 95 276 inhabitants compared to 42 784 for rural communes. Nevertheless, the communes of the plateau region and the other communes of the maritime region have a larger population in rural areas. The members of the municipal councils are elected for a period of six years, renewable twice (art. 85).

The main cities of the country are: Lomé, Tsévié, Kpalimé, Atakpamé, Sokodé, Kara and Dapaong. The municipal bodies are the municipal council and its executive board. The members of the municipal councils are elected for a period of six years, renewable twice (art. 85).

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: The law provides for horizontal cooperation and decentralised cooperation. It also institutes inter-municipal cooperation as an obligatory mode of cooperation between the communes of the same prefecture, as well as for the communes of Greater Lomé. It also provides for the creation of autonomous districts, recognised as special local or regional authorities.

The Law on Decentralisation and Local Freedoms divides powers between the State and local and region authorities into own, shared and transferred powers (Art. 64). The transfer of powers is carried out in accordance with the principle of gradual progress (Art. 63) and is accompanied by a simultaneous transfer of the corresponding revenues and responsibilities, as well as the transfer of the necessary services, movable and immovable property and staff (Art. 61).

The State shares powers with the regions and communes in the following areas: managing economic affairs and transport, protecting the environment, housing and public facilities, health, education, social welfare, culture and leisure. It also shares the responsibility for policing and security with the communes. However, the regions and communes are exclusively responsible for managing the general services of local public administrations. Autonomous districts do not share any powers with the State.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Regional level	Intermediate level	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Co-ordinating development initiatives between communes; creating and managing public services in the region.		Creating and managing communal public services.
3. Public order and safety			Traffic regulations (shared)
4. Economic affairs/transport	Organising of fairs and markets; promoting of local artisanal crafts; providing aid and incentives for the development of industry and SMEs (shared)	Economic, social and cultural development actions	Issuing of permits to occupy communal public land for commercial activities; creating and managing bus stations and parking areas; building and managing local markets and slaughterhouses; Quarrying of materials; aid and incentives for economic development; organising urban transport (shared)
5. Environmental protection	Advising on the creation of protected environmental areas; Protecting wildlife and plants; participating in the management and maintenance of regional parks, reserves and nature sites; developing and implementing regional environmental protection plans (shared)	Sanitation in the capital; countering the negative effects of urbanisation; protecting the environment.	Creating, managing and maintaining green spaces, public roads and squares; protecting areas reserved for market gardening and livestock; managing household, industrial, vegetable and agricultural waste; maintaining gutters and other sewage systems; managing communal parks; combating animal straying and regulating livestock farming; respecting the regulations on bush fires. Collecting and treating wastewater; environmental protection regulations; managing forestry and fisheries resources; combating illegal logging (shared)
6. Housing and community amenities	Advising on the master plans for town planning and development of communes; national road projects; water supply and electrification plans;Issuing of building permits for high-risk buildings; support and backing for communal actions to promote renewable energy. Regional land use plan; maintaining roads and tracks; building and maintaining bridges; managing tolls; building and maintaining dams and boreholes (shared)		Drawing up the commune’s development programme; managing the land; addressing roads; issuing building and demolition permits; subdivision operations; creating and maintaining cemeteries; road signs; carrying out surveys on the installation of infrastructures for the deposit, storage and distribution of petroleum products; Communal land use plan; master plan for development and urban planning; local housing programme; building social housing; creating, repairing and maintaining roads; building and managing toll booths; building and managing standpipes, wells and boreholes in the commune (shared)
7. Health	Supporting the management of regional hospitals; regional disease prevention policy (shared)		Adopting hygiene and sanitation measures in the area of the commune; building and managing dispensaries, basic health units and pharmaceutical depots (shared)
8. Culture and leisure	Developing and managing sports and leisure facilities	Protecting and promoting traditions and customs	Developing and managing sports and leisure facilities. Creating, managing and maintaining theatres and amusement parks; supporting sports clubs and associations; creating and managing community centres (shared)
9. Education	Building, equipping, maintaining and managing secondary schools; drawing up the school map; vocational training plan; building, equipping and managing regional vocational training centres; organising school transport (shared)	Building, repairing, equipping and managing general secondary schools and public general and technical secondary schools	School map; building, repairing, equipping, managing and maintaining nursery and primary schools; school transport; promoting literacy and national languages; technical and vocational training plans; participating in the management of technical and vocational training institutions (shared)
10. Social welfare	Compliance with funeral regulations Projects to promote and socially reintegrate poor people; regional emergency response and risk management plans (shared)		Issuing of burial permits; compliance with funeral regulations Assistance to the needy and disaster relief activities; contributing to the organisation of civil protection (shared)

Scope of fiscal data: 117 communes

SCN 2008

Availability of fiscal data: Medium

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Medium

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: The local budgetary framework is governed by i) the aforementioned Law 2007-011 of 13 March 2007, specifically Article 14 on the creation of a support fund for local authorities (FACT or Fonds d'Appui aux Collectivités Territoriales) and Title VIII on the financial organisation of local authorities; ii) Law 2018-024 of 24 November 2018 on the General Tax Code, especially Book 2 entitled "Local Taxation" ("fiscalité locale"); iii) Decree 2020-004/PR of 5 March 2020 on the financial system of local and regional authorities in Togo; iv) Inter-ministerial Order 005/MEF/MATDCL/2019 of 2 December 2019 on the budgetary classification of local and regional authorities; v) Inter-ministerial Order 003/MEF/MATDCL/2020 of 29 January 2020 on the way in which the budgets of local and regional authorities and their public administrative establishments are presented.

Administrative decentralisation is in place, but fiscal decentralisation is not operational; the Togolese Revenue Office (TRO or Office Togolais des Recettes) is responsible for collecting duties for local and regional authorities.

Subnational government expenditure by economic classification
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total spending	3.4	0.3%	1.3%	100.00%
Current spending	2.9	0.3%	1.8%	85.2%
Staff spending	0.6	0.1%	1.1%	17.5%
Intermediate consumption	1.7	0.2%	3.4%	49.2%
Social spending	0.1	0.0%	13.2%	04.2%
Subsidies and current transfers	0.0	0.0%	0.1%	01.1%
Financial charges (including interest)	-	-	-	-
Other current spending	0.4	0.0%	-	13.1%
Capital spending	0.5	0.1%	0.5%	14.8%
Capital transfers	-	-	-	-
Direct investment (or GFCF)	0.5	0.1%	1.0%	14.8%

EXPENDITURE: In 2020, the 117 communes’ actual spending amounted to USD 26.75 million PPP. This consists of USD 22.80 million PPP in current spending, i.e., 85%, and USD 3.95 million PPP in capital investment spending, i.e., 15%. This spending, which represents 0.33% of GDP and USD 3.39 PPP per capita, is down by 13% compared to 2019 when it amounted to USD 30.70 million. Intermediate consumption, the most important spending category, amounts to USD 13.2 million PPP, which is 57.75% of current spending and 49% of overall spending. It is mainly devoted to services such as maintenance (buildings, cemeteries, roads and networks), rental charges and repairs.

Capital spending is primarily devoted to the acquisition of office equipment and furniture, for a total of USD 2.59 million PPP, or 67%. Salaries have largely remained at their 2019 level (USD 4 million PPP).

DIRECT INVESTMENT: Capital spending by communes covers roads, land, buildings, bridges, transport equipment, office equipment and furniture. It is not focused on green projects and infrastructure. They are financed by the local and regional authorities’ own-source revenues and by the State and development partners. Financing through public-private partnerships does not yet exist.

In 2020, local investment spending was negligible, amounting to barely half a dollar PPP per capita and 0.05% of GDP. Between 2019 and 2020, this spending dropped from USD 5.27 million to USD 3.95 million PPP (a 25% decrease), due to reduced spending on public works (buildings, bridges) and transport equipment. It is still primarily allocated to road works and the acquisition of office equipment and furniture, for USD 1.16 and USD 2.59 million PPP respectively, i.e., 29.5% and 65.6% of total local investment.

Subnational government expenditure by functional classification
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total spending by economic function	3.4	0.3%	-	100.0%
1. General public services (administration)	3.1	0.3%	2.7%	90.1%
2. Defence	-	-	-	-
3. Public order and safety	-	-	-	-
4. Economic affairs/transport	0.1	0.0%	0.3%	4.5%
5. Environmental protection	0	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
6. Housing and community amenities	0.0	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
7. Health	-	-	-	-
8. Recreation, culture and religion	-	-	-	-
9. Education	-	-	-	-
10. Social welfare	0.2	0.0%	1.3%	5.4%

The functional classification of budgetary spending is provided for by inter-ministerial order 003/MEF/MATDCL/2020 of 29 January 2020, but local actors have not yet put it into practice. However, from the estimates made on the basis of the economic classification, it is clear that local authorities' spending is concentrated on the following three functions: general services of local government, economic affairs/transport and social protection.

Spending on general government services, at USD 3.05 PPP per capita, or 0.30% of GDP, accounted for 90% of total budgetary spending. This includes salaries, intermediate consumption, equipment and furniture, transport equipment, and the levy on operating revenue.

Spending on economic affairs amounts to USD 0.15 PPP per capita, or 0.01% of GDP; spending on social protection is limited to USD 0.18 million PPP, equivalent to 0.02% of GDP.

Subnational government revenue by category
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total revenue	2.2	0.2%	1.1%	100.0%
Tax revenue	0.8	0.1%	0.5%	38.2%
Grants and subsidies	0.1	0.0%	-	3.3%
Tariffs and fees	0.4	0.0%	-	18.1%
Income from assets	0.8	0.1%	-	37.5%
Other revenue	0.1	0.0%	-	2.9%

OVERALL DESCRIPTION:The financing of local and regional authorities is regulated by Decree 2019-130/PR of 9 October 2019 setting out the organisation and operation of the Local Authority Support Fund (FACT), Decree 2020-071/PR of 22 September 2020 approving the criteria for distributing FACT allocations and Decree 2021-039/PR of 14 April 2021 setting the rate of distribution of tax and service revenue between the Communes, Autonomous Districts, FACT and the National Sanitation and Public Health Agency (ANASAP or Agence Nationale d’Assainissement et de Salubrité Publique).

The operating revenue of local and regional authorities includes tax revenue, revenue from the provision of services, revenue from the assets and activities of local and regional authorities, taxes and fees relating to public health and hygiene services and funeral services, State allocations and miscellaneous revenue (art. 333 of the Law on Decentralisation and Local Freedoms).

In 2020, the budgetary revenues generated amounted to USD 17.48 million PPP, corresponding to USD 2.21 PPP per capita and 0.21% of GDP. They increased by 13% compared to their 2019 level of USD 15.53 million PPP. These are mainly driven by tax revenues (USD 6.67 million PPP) and income from assets (USD 6.55 million PPP).

A review of the distribution criteria for shared taxation (Decree 2021-039/PR of 14 April 2021) and the reduction of tax rates (Order 2020-005 of 30 July 2020) may reduce local revenues in the future if the situation remains unchanged. For example, the rate of property tax on real estate (TFPB or taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties), which was set at 15% of the rental value of the building, has been reduced to 7.5% since 2020; the rate of property tax on undeveloped properties (TFPNB or taxe foncière sur les propriétés non bâties) has been reduced from 5% of the market value to 0.5%.

TAX REVENUE: In Togo, the creation of taxes is the domain of central law. The local council sets the tax rate under the conditions determined by the Finance Law.

Provided for in article 334 of the Law on Decentralisation and Local Freedoms, local tax revenues include the proceeds of direct taxes (property tax on real estate, both developed and undeveloped, business tax, housing tax, single professional tax and similar taxes) and indirect taxes and duties (tax on entertainment, proceeds from registration fees, tax on the distribution of water, electricity and telephone, proceeds from stamp duties, tax on the operation of local communication companies and similar indirect taxes).

In 2020, local tax revenues collected on behalf of local and regional authorities amounted to USD 6.67 million PPP, or 38.2% of total local and regional authority revenues. They represent 0.08% of GDP and USD 0.84 PPP per capita. There was an upward variation of 9% compared to 2019 when they peaked at USD 6.14 million PPP. They are broken down into direct taxes (USD 6.61 million PPP or 99%) and indirect taxes (USD 0.06 million PPP or 1%).

In the year 2020, local tax revenues are driven by four direct taxes: business tax (patente) (uSD 4.86 million PPP, or 73% of the total), property tax (USD 0.69 million PPP, or 10%), single professional tax (USD 0.44 million PPP, or 7%) and housing tax (USD 0.41 million PPP, or 6%).

Compared to 2019, only the housing tax (USD 0.11 million PPP) and the business tax (USD 4.05 million PPP) recorded a positive variation of 274% and 20% respectively. However, the property tax (USD 0.80 million PPP) and the single professional tax (USD 0.55 million PPP) are down by 13% and 20% respectively. Other tax revenues amount to USD 0.27 million PPP, or 4%.

It should be noted that significant budgetary and fiscal disparities exist between urban and rural communes.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES:The grants to local and regional authorities are provided for in Article 333 of the Law on Decentralisation and Local Freedoms. These are grants and transfers received from the State, transfers received from other local and regional authorities, annexed budgets and budgets of local or national public establishments.

The State’s annual grant to local and regional authorities is set by the Finance Law. The revenue of the grant is made available to communities through FACT. Decree 2020-071/PR of 22 September 2020 approving the criteria for the distribution of FACT grants indicates that the amount of FACT is divided into two grants: the unallocated capital investment grant (80%) and the operating grant (20%).

The unallocated capital investment grant consists of a basic grant, an equalisation grant and a performance grant. In 2020, the basic grant, set at 40%, was distributed equitably among the local and regional authorities and the equalisation grant, “capped” at 60%, was distributed on the basis of the criteria of population (20%), area (20%) and poverty index (20%). The earmarked capital investment grants are directly implemented by the National Agency for Support for Community Development (ANADEB or Agence Nationale d'Appui au Développement à la Base) and the Support Programme for Vulnerable Populations (PAPV or Programme d'Appui aux Populations Vulnérables).

In 2020, the grants and subsidies received by the local and regional authorities amounted to USD 0.58 million PPP, i.e. 0.01% of GDP and USD 0.07 per capita. This amount does not reflect the actual payments made to them. Overall, in 2020, the FACT grant allocated to local and regional authorities was USD 3.74million PPP, of which USD 1.50 million PPP was a current grant and USD 2.24 million PPP a capital grant. The amount recorded in the financial statements is the amount actually collected by the local and regional authorities and the rest is recorded in their deposit account at the Treasury.

OTHER REVENUE: The fees and charges to be collected by the local and regional authorities are listed in Article 335 of the Decentralisation Act. They consist of: fees for the removal of household waste and refuse, fees for emptying and cleaning gutters and pits, town planning fees, disinfection fees (hygiene service), fees for the sanitary inspection of food products, fees for the felling of forest species and oil palms, property transfer fees, shipping fees, fees for the registration of administrative acts and civil status.

The amount collected in 2020 is USD 3.16 million PPP, representing 18.1% of current revenue. This is 16% higher than in 2019 (USD 2.49 million PPP) and corresponds to USD 0.40 PPP per capita and 0.04% of GDP. This increase was facilitated by the significant increase in the tax for the sanitary inspection of food products (71% of the total) and the fees for shipping, registration of administrative acts and civil status (28%). Other fees and charges (disinfection tax, planning fee and other service revenues) account for barely 1%.

Also provided for in article 335, revenue from assets includes, among other things: the sale by public auction of assets, the fee for occupying public spaces, parking permits and parking fees, market and fair fees, other revenue from the land, the proceeds from leasing land, funeral concessions and fees, the proceeds from quarrying, mining royalties, etc.

In 2020, income from assets amounted to USD 6.55 million PPP, which is equivalent to USD 0.83 PPP per capita and 0.08% of GDP. This is 37.5% of current revenue and is an increase of 17% compared to 2019 (USD 5.60 million PPP). The increase was due to the proportion of market fees collected (46% of the total), other property income (18%) and parking permits and parking fees (11%). The larger number of other assets provided income amounting to 26% of the amount collected in the year.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

FISCAL RULES: In Togo, there is no law dedicated to the accountable management of local finances. However, the minister in charge of local and regional governments issues an annual circular providing general guidance on the preparation and execution of communal budgets. In this circular, the minister reminds the local and regional authorities of the provisions of the Law on Decentralisation, which oblige communal authorities to manage local finances in a “good and responsible way”. These include sincere budgeting, the ban on overspending, the mandatory inclusion of compulsory spending, the mandatory allocation of 20% of operating revenue to capital investment spending, drawing up a provisional cash flow plan, the obligation to approve the primary budget before 1 January, not accumulating arrears of more than three months, respecting the rule of real budget balance, and the obligation to allocate the FACT to social investment spending and not to the construction of commercial infrastructure.

Apart from these measures, self-financing plus own-source investment revenue (excluding allocations or earmarked grants and loans) must be greater than the capital repayment of loans (art. 12 of Decree 2020-004/PR of 5 March 2020). In addition, with the technical assistance of the German Cooperation, some communes are being introduced to the practice of participatory budgeting. This initiative will gradually be extended to other municipalities in the country.

DEBT: The Law on Decentralisation and Local Freedoms authorises local and regional authorities to conclude loan agreements domestically as part of the implementation of their development programme (art. 75). Decree 2020-004/PR of 5 March 2020 (art. 137) adds: “the terms for implementing financing by borrowing... shall be determined by a joint order of the minister in charge of local and regional authorities and the minister in charge of finance”. To date, the order has not been issued. This legal vacuum means that local and regional authorities are not able to take on debt.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: To effectively respond to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Order 2020-004 of 3 July 2020 on the general measures needed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and Order 2020-005 of 30 July 2020 amending the Finance Law for the year 2020 and relating to the accompanying fiscal and customs measures linked to the COVID-19 pandemic were adopted. A scientific council, responsible for analysing the COVID-19 situation and periodically giving advice on the state of the health crisis, related scientific knowledge and measures to end it, was created by Decree 2020-051/PR of 2 July 2020. Similarly, a joint anti-COVID-19 monitoring group, responsible for raising awareness and enforcing government measures, was set up by Decree 2021-009/PR of 13 January 2021.

In addition, mechanisms for coordinating actions were also created by inter-ministerial orders to: i) manage the COVID-19 funding platform, ii) ensure the protection of users in the markets, iii) monitor the activities and financing of the microfinance sector, iv) monitor and propose measures to limit the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy for its resilience.

The management of the crisis has mainly been handled by the central government, which has enacted measures to reduce its harmful effects. Accordingly, Order 2020-004 of 3 July prescribed “barrier measures” to be observed nationwide. These include travel and transport, health measures, educational and academic activities, meetings, gatherings and other activities. The implementation of these measures was carried out locally by prefects and mayors in collaboration with the various ad hoc committees created for this purpose.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS: The new elected representatives of the 117 municipalities had only just taken up their duties in mid-October 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in early February 2020. They were confronted with a health crisis that was difficult to manage in terms of the revenue required to deal with it. Relaying the general measures taken at the state level, local and regional authorities raised awareness of the pandemic and most of them equipped schools, hospitals, sewing and hairdressing workshops, bus stations, markets and other public places with hand-washing facilities and distributed masks and hydro-alcohol solutions.

For its part, the central government has: i) allocated start-up funds to the 117 communes, ii) covered six months of staff salaries (USD 1.50 million PPP) paid from communal budgets, iii) unlocked USD 2.24 million PPP of earmarked FACT.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The disruptions caused by the pandemic affected the revenue collection and budgetary spending in local and regional authorities, resulting in a deficit in the execution of local budgets in 2020.

The slowdown in economic activities, caused by the central government's response measures, as well as the reduction in the rate of shared taxation, did not allow for the collection of local revenues to the extent that the full communalisation of the country in 2019 would have allowed.

Local and regional authorities’ own-source revenues (fees and charges, income from assets and other income), while increasing significantly from USD 9.38 million PPP in 2019 to USD 10.22 million in 2020 (up 9%), would likely have grown more under normal conditions.

Current spending has fallen from USD 25.43 million in 2019 to USD 22.80 million in 2020, a decrease of 10%. The priority given to pandemic-related spending has had a major impact on the increase in intermediate consumption spending.

The local budgets resulted in deficits in 2019 (USD 9.90 million PPP) and 2020 (USD 5.32 million PPP). The size of the deficit is indicative of the negative impacts of COVID-19 on local and regional authorities’ finances. This phenomenon has also affected the building up of savings to finance investments, as recommended by Article 341 of the Law consisting of the compulsory withdrawal of ordinary income from the operating budget to finance investments.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: In response to the pandemic, the government adopted the “3Rs” plan (health response, resilience to COVID-19, economic recovery). A national vaccination programme was launched. There was also a significant recovery in economic activity in 2021: the growth rate was 5.3% compared with 1.8% in 2020.

Locally, the measures the local and regional authorities have undertaken include stimulating the economy, drawing up development plans, improving revenue collection, continuing to raise awareness of the need to comply with protective measures and vaccinations, and building educational and health infrastructure. At the communal level, under the authority of the mayors, response committees were set up, bringing together councillors, traditional chiefs and the presidents of local development committees. These committees provide weekly updates on operations related to the pandemic. Finally, FACT allocations, which also include support from partners, are to be used exclusively for investments.