Advanced Public Financial Management Training in Bangkok

Programme Overview

Sound public financial management (PFM) underpins macroeconomic stability, credible budgets, efficient services and public trust. It covers the whole cycle: fiscal strategy, budget preparation, execution and control, accounting and reporting, asset and liability management, and external scrutiny. Advanced practitioners are expected to connect these stages so that the budget reflects policy, money is spent as planned and results are reported transparently.

The international reference points have matured. The PEFA 2016 framework assesses PFM performance through 31 indicators grouped in seven pillars, from budget reliability to external audit, and has been complemented by subnational guidance in 2021, a gender framework in 2020 and a climate framework fully launched in 2024. According to PEFA, around 750 assessments were completed between 2005 and 2024. The IMF Fiscal Transparency Code sets standards across fiscal reporting, forecasting and budgeting, fiscal risk management and resource revenue management.

Governments in Asia and the Pacific are investing heavily in this agenda. The World Bank approved US$17.5 million in November 2025 for a second phase of the Lao PDR project on public financial management through ICT and skills, and a US$15 million grant in 2025 for Strengthening Public Financial Management II in the Marshall Islands. In the Philippines, an updated PFM Reforms Roadmap 2024–2028 was launched with ADB in June 2026, informed by a 2025 PEFA assessment.

This five-day advanced programme in Bangkok is designed for senior finance, budget, treasury, accounting and audit officials and for PFM reform teams. Thailand provides a practical benchmark: its Fiscal Responsibility Act and Budgetary Procedures Act, both of 2018, set numerical fiscal rules, a medium-term fiscal plan and a modern legal basis for budget preparation, execution and evaluation.

Risalat works with each participating institution to relate the sessions to its own diagnostic findings, such as a recent PEFA report, so that participants return with priorities and tools they can use in the next budget cycle.

The Programme Strengthens Institutional Capability

• Macro-fiscal forecasting and fiscal strategy
• Fiscal rules design, monitoring and escape clauses
• Medium-term expenditure and fiscal frameworks
• Programme-based and performance budgeting
• Budget credibility and in-year reallocation control
• Public investment management and capital budgeting
• Fiscal risk analysis, including state-owned enterprises and guarantees
• Cash management and treasury single account operations
• Commitment control and payment arrears management
• Debt management and borrowing strategy
• Accrual accounting and IPSAS adoption
• Whole-of-government financial reporting
• Financial management information systems (FMIS)
• Internal control and internal audit
• External audit follow-up and legislative scrutiny
• Fiscal transparency and citizens’ budgets
• Asset management and long-term financial planning
• PEFA-based diagnostics and reform sequencing
• Variance analysis and financial performance review
• Management of off-budget and extra-budgetary operations

Each topic is treated at an advanced level, with emphasis on the trade-offs and sequencing decisions that senior officials face.

The Growing Importance of Advanced Public Financial Management

Higher public debt after the pandemic, rising interest costs and climate and disaster pressures have made fiscal space scarce. The IMF’s 2025 selected issues paper on Thailand noted that public debt was about 63% of GDP at the end of FY2024, close to the 70% ceiling, and that pandemic support financed through off-budget loans of THB 1.5 trillion had bypassed legislative scrutiny and the deficit rule. Similar concerns about extra-budgetary spending, quasi-fiscal operations by state-owned enterprises and contingent liabilities appear in PFM diagnostics across the region.

At the same time, financiers are linking support to measurable PFM results. World Bank operations in Lao PDR and the Marshall Islands combine information systems, stronger accounting and reporting, internal audit and training of staff at spending units. The Philippines roadmap sets priorities, responsibilities and targets for budget allocation, spending and accounting, led by a PFM Committee of the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance and the Commission on Audit.

Organisations increasingly require professionals capable of:

• Preparing credible medium-term fiscal and expenditure frameworks
• Monitoring compliance with fiscal rules
• Designing programme-based budgets with useful performance indicators
• Appraising and prioritising public investment projects
• Identifying, quantifying and disclosing fiscal risks
• Managing cash and commitments to avoid arrears
• Preparing financial statements under IPSAS
• Using FMIS data for management decisions
• Leading or responding to PEFA assessments
• Strengthening internal control and audit follow-up
• Producing transparent, timely budget documentation
• Sequencing PFM reforms within realistic capacity

Strong public financial management systems help organisations:

• Deliver budgets that are executed as approved
• Align spending with policy priorities
• Maintain fiscal discipline and debt sustainability
• Improve value for money in services and investment
• Reduce leakage, arrears and off-budget spending
• Provide reliable information to decision-makers
• Strengthen accountability to parliament and citizens
• Attract and manage development financing effectively
• Respond to shocks without losing fiscal control

Advanced PFM is less about individual techniques and more about making the system work as a whole, so that strategy, budgeting, execution and reporting reinforce each other.

Who Should Attend This Advanced PFM Training?

This programme is designed for:

• Directors and senior officers of budget departments
• Macro-fiscal and fiscal policy analysts
• Treasury, cash and debt management officials
• Accountant generals and public sector accountants
• Chief finance officers of line ministries and agencies
• Public investment management units
• Internal audit and internal control units
• Supreme audit institution staff
• Parliamentary budget office and committee staff
• Local government finance directors
• State-owned enterprise oversight units
• FMIS project managers and functional leads
• PFM reform coordinators and secretariats
• Project implementation units of World Bank, ADB and other donor-financed projects
• Finance managers of public bodies and regulators
• Qualified accountants moving into public sector roles
• Development partner staff and consultants working on PFM

Participants should have working experience in public finance; the programme builds on that experience rather than starting from basic concepts.

Advanced PFM Training Objectives

Upon successful completion of this Advanced PFM Training, participants will be able to:

• Assess a PFM system using the PEFA 2016 pillars and indicators
• Link fiscal strategy to a medium-term expenditure framework
• Evaluate fiscal rules and their monitoring arrangements
• Design programme-based budget structures and performance indicators
• Apply appraisal and prioritisation methods to capital projects
• Analyse and disclose fiscal risks, including SOE and guarantee exposures
• Plan cash, commitments and borrowing to protect budget execution
• Explain the requirements and sequencing of IPSAS accrual adoption
• Interpret public sector financial statements and detect negative trends
• Design internal controls proportionate to risk
• Use the IMF Fiscal Transparency Code to improve budget documentation
• Prepare a sequenced PFM reform action plan

The objectives update the original programme’s focus on financial analysis, controls, long-term planning and audit, and place them within current international frameworks.

Programme Contents and Structure

Advanced PFM Training Methodology

The methodology is designed for experienced officials and focuses on application to participants’ own systems.

The programme combines:

• Short expert presentations on each stage of the PFM cycle
• Analysis of real PEFA reports and budget documents
• Spreadsheet-based budgeting and appraisal exercises
• Case studies of financed PFM reforms in Asia and the Pacific
• Benchmarking against Thailand’s fiscal framework
• Fiscal risk mapping exercises
• Financial statement analysis
• Group work and peer review
• Role plays with budget committees and reform panels
• Technical visits to public institutions where confirmed
• Daily reflection and action points
• A capstone reform action plan

All templates are shared in editable formats so teams can adapt them after the programme. Facilitators bring experience of PFM reform, budgeting and public sector accounting.

Technical Visits and Site Programme

The programme includes a technical visit in Bangkok to give participants direct exposure to how public finance institutions organise budgeting, treasury, accounting or audit functions. Visits are confirmed with host organisations closer to the programme date and depend on their availability.

Where possible, the visit focuses on themes such as fiscal planning, financial management information systems or performance reporting. Participants prepare questions in advance and discuss lessons for their own institutions in a structured debrief on the following day.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this Advanced PFM Training, participants will be able to:

• Lead PEFA-based reviews of their PFM systems
• Strengthen medium-term fiscal and expenditure frameworks
• Improve programme-based budget structures and indicators
• Prioritise capital projects with sound appraisal
• Identify and disclose fiscal risks more completely
• Reduce arrears through commitment and cash control
• Plan IPSAS adoption and improve financial reporting
• Use financial analysis to detect and address negative trends
• Implement a sequenced PFM reform action plan

These outcomes support national reform programmes and the results frameworks of PFM projects financed by development partners.

Institutional Application of Advanced PFM Training

This programme supports organisations in strengthening:

• Fiscal strategy and fiscal rules monitoring
• Medium-term budgeting
• Programme and performance budgeting
• Public investment management
• Budget execution and commitment control
• Treasury and cash management
• Debt and fiscal risk management
• Accounting and financial reporting
• Internal control and internal audit
• External audit follow-up
• Budget transparency
• FMIS use and data quality
• PFM reform coordination

Participants return with practical tools to improve:

• PEFA self-assessment matrices
• Medium-term budget templates
• Programme budget and indicator templates
• Capital project appraisal worksheets
• Fiscal risk registers
• Cash and commitment planning tools
• Financial statement analysis checklists
• PFM reform action plan templates

Institutions can complement the programme with Risalat’s free governance audit and institutional capacity assessment diagnostics.

Regional Relevance & Application

Asia

Lao PDR is extending its integrated financial management information system and training spending units under a US$17.5 million IDA project approved in 2025. The Philippines has an updated PFM roadmap shaped by a self-assessment with more than 1,100 participants and a 2025 PEFA assessment. Thailand’s experience with fiscal rules and off-budget pressures offers lessons for many middle-income economies.

Pacific

Small island states face capacity limits and high exposure to shocks. The Marshall Islands’ Strengthening Public Financial Management II project combines accounting, procurement and internal audit reforms with wider FMIS use and mentoring of civil servants.

Africa

PEFA assessments are widely used across Africa, and many finance ministries are working on budget credibility, arrears control and accrual reporting. The programme’s tools apply directly to these reform agendas.

Middle East

Governments in the region are strengthening medium-term budgeting, fiscal risk disclosure and SOE oversight, often in the context of revenue volatility.

Europe

Eastern European and Central Asian countries continue to use PEFA and accrual accounting reforms to strengthen budget discipline and transparency.

Across regions, PEFA and the Fiscal Transparency Code provide a common framework, which makes comparison and peer learning between participants practical.

Host Country Profile – Thailand

Bangkok is one of Asia’s main hubs for regional meetings and training, with extensive air connections, a wide choice of venues and accommodation, and a strong presence of international organisations and development partners.

Thailand is a useful benchmark for advanced PFM. Its Fiscal Responsibility Act B.E. 2561 (2018) requires a medium-term fiscal plan of at least three years, a fiscal risk statement and whole-of-government accounts, and sets numerical limits monitored by a Fiscal Policy Committee chaired by the Prime Minister. These include a public debt ceiling of 70% of GDP, raised from 60% in 2021, a limit on debt service of 35% of revenue and a minimum of 20% of the budget for capital expenditure. The Budgetary Procedures Act B.E. 2561 (2018) replaced legislation dating back to 1959 and governs preparation, execution, control and evaluation of the budget, and the Comptroller General’s Department operates the GFMIS for government financial transactions.

Many nationalities can enter Thailand without a visa for short visits or apply for an e-visa, but rules change and differ by nationality, so participants should confirm requirements with the nearest Thai embassy or consulate. Risalat provides invitation letters and visa guidance on registration.

Advanced PFM Training Deliverables

Every participant receives a full package of materials and support before, during and after the programme.

Before the Programme

• Participant Pre-Assessment
• PFM Readiness Assessment
• Advanced PFM Resource Pack
• Preparatory Reading Materials
• Complimentary Visa Support & Advisory

During the Programme

• Airport Pickup & Welcome Assistance
• Accommodation with Breakfast
• Welcome Networking Dinner
• Risalat Training Kit (Bag, Bottle, Mug, T-Shirt, Cap, Passport Cover, Pens, Notebook, Magnet & Keychain)
• Comprehensive Advanced PFM Training Manual
• PEFA Self-Assessment Matrix
• Medium-Term Budget Template
• Programme Budget and Indicator Template
• Capital Project Appraisal Worksheet
• Fiscal Risk Register
• Cash and Commitment Planning Tool
• Financial Statement Analysis Checklist
• Practical Workshops & Simulations
• Group Discussions & Peer Learning
• Daily Lunch and Refreshments
• Full Access to Training Venue Facilities
• Mini Pad / Tablet with Digital Learning Materials
• Field Visit (where applicable)
• Entertaining City Tour

After the Programme

• Certificate of Completion
• Risalat Programme Participation Recognition Award
• Post-Training Reference Materials
• PFM Reform Action Plan Template
• IPSAS Adoption Roadmap Guide
• Fiscal Rules Monitoring Checklist
• Post-Training Support & Follow-Up Guidance
• Programme Report

Ministries, agencies and project teams can request a tailored in-house version built around their own PEFA findings and reform plans through our request a proposal form.

Common Challenges in Advanced Public Financial Management, And How This Training Helps

How can we make the budget more credible?

The second and third days cover ceilings, the budget calendar, commitment control and in-year reallocation rules that close the gap between approved and actual spending.

How do we turn a PEFA report into a reform plan?

The first day’s workshop and the fifth day’s capstone take teams from PEFA scores to root causes and a sequenced action plan.

How can fiscal rules be monitored without becoming too complex?

Using Thailand’s framework and the IMF’s recommendation to streamline overlapping rules, the first day examines which rules matter and how to report on them.

How should off-budget spending and fiscal risks be handled?

The third day’s case study shows how to identify off-budget and quasi-fiscal operations and disclose them in a fiscal risk statement.

How do we make programme-based budgeting useful for decisions?

The second day focuses on programme structures, costing and a small set of indicators that decision-makers actually use.

How can we prepare for IPSAS accrual accounting?

The fourth day covers transition paths, asset registers and consolidation, so teams can sequence adoption realistically.

How do we get value from an FMIS investment?

The fifth day draws on Lao PDR, the Marshall Islands and Thailand’s GFMIS to show how systems, procedures and staff skills must change together.

How can audit findings lead to real improvements?

The fourth day covers audit follow-up and internal audit, and the capstone links audit recommendations to reform milestones.

Frequently Asked Questions

What level is this programme?

It is an advanced programme for officials with practical experience in budgeting, treasury, accounting, audit or PFM reform.

Which international frameworks are covered?

PEFA 2016 and its supplementary frameworks, the IMF Fiscal Transparency Code, IPSAS and good practice in medium-term and programme-based budgeting.

Why is Bangkok the venue?

Bangkok is a well-connected regional hub, and Thailand's 2018 Fiscal Responsibility Act and Budgetary Procedures Act give a practical benchmark for fiscal rules and budget law.

Is there a technical visit?

Yes. A technical visit to a public institution is planned and confirmed with host organisations closer to the programme date.

Can the programme be delivered in-house?

Yes. Risalat can tailor it to an institution's PEFA findings, budget calendar and reform plan, in-country or at another venue.

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