A/HRC/41/39/Add.2 public expenditure figures either went unanswered or elicited responses with outdated information sent in a piecemeal fashion. 20. The Government should publish key budget information annually in a format that ensures meaningful access and that includes all domestic revenue, international grants and loans, as well as an analysis of allocations and actual expenditure. Monitoring and evaluating actual expenditure and its effectiveness is also crucial. The Government should establish a mechanism through which civil society and the public can participate in establishing budget priorities and in monitoring and evaluation. 21. International partners should facilitate and encourage the timely publication and dissemination of relevant information, ensure accessibility of their own information and support the involvement of civil society and the public in the budget process. Public expenditure in key policy areas 22. Public social expenditure is integral to reducing poverty, facilitating social mobility and realizing human rights. Although the Government has made important commitments, actual social spending has too often fallen short, remained low by regional standards and not increased in line with GDP growth. Available data show flagging spending on health care, education and social security, evidence that the country is not bringing its maximum available resources to bear in the provision of essential services. According to a development partner, in 2017, spending on health was 1.7 per cent of GDP, the same as it was in the period 2010/11, and 6.5 per cent of the government budget, against a target of 9 per cent.15 Spending on education was 3.11 per cent of GDP and 13.4 per cent of the budget, against a target of 17 per cent. The percentage of the budget spent on education in 2017 was lower than in the preceding six years. 23. A government’s budget reflects its real priorities. Sustained investment in the Lao people requires greatly increased expenditure on health, education and social protection. Progressive tax policy and revenue generation 24. Although the Government is under pressure to reduce its fiscal deficit, reductions should not come at the price of inadequate social protection spending. Overly generous and insufficiently targeted fiscal incentives and exemptions to encourage investment have greatly limited revenue collection, leading even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to call for the review and reform of such exemptions. 16 Partly because of those tax breaks, tax revenue as a percentage of GDP in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is actually on the decline, falling from 13.8 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 12.2 per cent in 2017, lower than that of its neighbours Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam. 17 15 16 17 611241536118876855/pdf/Project-Information-Document-PID-Lao-PDR-Public-FinanceManagement-Reform-Grant-P167661.pdf. Reports on public expenditure vary. A 2018 report of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific found that the Lao People’s Democratic Republic spent 0 per cent of GDP on social protection, 1 per cent on health and 3 percent on education, which are among the lowest expenditure levels in the region. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, “Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific Poorly Protected”, 2018, p. 46. Available from www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/publications/Social_Outlook.pdf. International Monetary Fund, “Lao People’s Democratic Republic: 2017 Article IV Consultation”, 23 March 2018. Available from www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2018/03/23/Lao-PeoplesDemocratic-Republic-2017-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-Staff-Report-and-45750; and World Bank, “Lao PDR Economic Monitor”, June 2018, pp. 12 and 37. Available from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/418261529002464394/Lao-PDR-economic-monitorsafeguarding-stability-an-ongoing-agenda-thematic-section-how-can-farmers-get-more-for-their-riceand-consumers-pay-less. World Bank Data, International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files and World Bank and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development GDP estimates, “Tax revenue (% of GDP): Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam”. Available from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=LAVN-TH-KH&year_low_desc=false. 7