This study was commissioned by PEFA with the support of the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) funding. It was intended as a contribution to improvements in donor harmonization and building a sustainable basis for increased use of policy based aid instruments. It offers an insight into measures used by donors before PEFA was adopted and some important principles and questions to consider as part of a reform program.

The study focused on short term measures of protection and improvement sought by donors in the light of increased reliance on national resource management systems where they are entering into policy based aid assistance and those systems are weak. However, it considers these requirements in a broader policy, institutional and governance context. It proposes a development in the approach to such measures.