Turning an unfunded aspiration into a government-owned financing plan with explicit budget commitments.
A ministry wanted to expand a high-priority programme but faced resistance from the finance ministry, which argued there was no fiscal space. The debate was stuck because neither side had a rigorous, shared estimate of what was actually affordable.
NXA conducted an independent fiscal space analysis, quantifying each of the four sources of fiscal space and modelling realistic scenarios over a medium-term horizon. We presented the analysis to both ministries as a neutral, evidence-based basis for decision.
Fiscal space for expansion did exist — but not from the source either side assumed. The most feasible pathway combined efficiency gains in existing spending with a targeted revenue measure, rather than new borrowing or across-the-board cuts.
A shared, evidence-based estimate of available fiscal space and a recommended financing pathway that both ministries could accept — breaking the impasse.
The programme expansion was approved and funded through the identified pathway, with the fiscal space analysis cited as the basis for the decision.
"The programme expansion was approved and funded through the identified pathway, with the fiscal space analysis cited as the basis for the decision."