Decentralization In Madagascar: A World Bank Country Study

This publication examines the first 10 years of the implementation of decentralisation policies in Madagascar, which has seen a number of reversals and uncertainties. Although the country's economy remains highly centralised one, many positive lessons can be drawn from the country's experience. The study analyses local government finances and develops a methodology for measuring local financing needs (local fiscal gap methodology). It highlights the need for a number of structural reforms, including increasing transfers to rural communes so that per capita allocations would be the same across rural and urban communes, and assigning revenues to one level of government only, except for some very specific types of taxes.