As development assistance for health shrinks and the demand for health expenditures increases, developing countries are under mounting pressure to provide adequate resources for health. Governments can increase available public resources by benefiting from overall economic growth, borrowing, making efficiency gains, and reforming tax laws and improving tax administration, among others. This report examines whether improvements in tax revenue performance due to tax administration reform result in increases in available government funds that benefit the health sector and the conditions that facilitate greater allocations toward health spending.

This report is complemented by two in-depth country case studies, El Salvador and Rwanda.

USAID’s Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project improves health in developing countries by expanding people’s access to health care. Led by Abt Associates, the project team works with partner countries to increase their domestic resources for health, manage those precious resources more effectively, and make wise purchasing decisions.