A. BACKGROUND

The World Bank (WB) and the European Union (EU) agreed to implement a new hybrid Trust Fund (TF)-financed Strengthening Governance in Mongolia (SGM) project aimed to support the efforts of the Government of Mongolia (GOM) to improve fiscal discipline, public financial management (PFM), as well as transparency and accountability processes for strengthened governance in Mongolia. 

This new TF, through both Recipient Executed (RE) and Bank Executed (BE) interventions, will serve two main purposes. Firstly, it will complement and expand the ongoing technical assistance the WB is providing through the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability (SFFS) Project. Secondly, this TF will support the GOM in advancing the current efforts toward increasing transparency, participation and accountability in fiscal matters as well as in strengthening its capacity to deal with non-technical drivers of the reform process that prevent state agencies from implementing policies and regulations as intended. 

The Component 1 of the TF will aim to complement interventions financed under the SFFS Project and will focus on supporting operationalization of the newly established Fiscal Council (FC) and strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in areas such as debt management and revenue forecasting, among others.

The Parliament of Mongolia is the highest governing body of Mongolia, passing legislation and determining the state’s foreign and domestic policy, acting independently and transparently and ensuring the fundamental principle of including the people’s engagement in legislative process and implementation of laws. The Standing Committee of Budget Affairs (SCBA), one of the 8 standing committees of the Parliament, is responsible to prepare all the laws and resolutions in relation with the fiscal policy and budgetary proceedings at the parliament level. Within the standing committee, the Fiscal Council engages to provide independent review on the budget as the primary responsibility. The council also responsible for reviewing implementation of the fiscal sustainability law and support the standing committee of Budget affairs in certain budgetary procedures. 

The objective of the project is to improve capacity of the Fiscal Council of the Secretariat (Parliament of Mongolia) to conduct in-depth fiscal analysis, necessary assessment of proposed laws with fiscal consequences and to provide comprehensive recommendation to the SCBA members and MPs on budgetary decisions. It will lead to efficient law-making and monitoring process, with greater quality of approved laws/legislations to meet the certain fiscal disciplines in general.  

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main objective of this assignment is to help the Fiscal Council of the SCBA on international best practices and standards for fiscal stability councils around the world, compare and analyze council's rules and regulation and define council's responsibilities and duties in the long term. Moreover, a local consultant needs to prepare Memorandum of Understanding between Fiscal stability council and its key stakeholders, namely the Bank of Mongolia and the Ministry of Finance. 

C. SCOPE OF THE WORK 

The role will include, but will not be limited to, the following tasks: 

(i) Provide general day to day operational guidance to other local technical consultants on developing models.

(ii) Develop appropriate frameworks for researching/analyzing/ and formulating recommendations related to the Outputs.  

(iii) Explore some options for certain analytic tools and methodologies need to be supported by third-party datasets, software, and consolidated information system (dashboards/ information portals etc.)   

(iv) Prepare international best practices and standards for fiscal stability councils;

(v) Compare and analyze council's rules and regulation against best practices;

(vi) Improve the existing Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with key stakeholders, including the Bank of Mongolia and the Ministry of Finance; Develop new MoUs with other stakeholders if needed. 

(vii) Provide support to international consultant on preparing a draft strategic plan of the Fiscal Council;

(viii) Prepare the job description, requirements and assess the operational overlapping and differences between Fiscal Council and the budget analysis unit of the parliament secretariat office;

(ix) Prepare a Code of Conduct for Council Members and Secretariat Staff with support of international consultant establishing ethical standards of conduct, including individual responsibility for use of private or sensitive information used by Fiscal stability council when conducting its analysis; 

(x) With support of international consultant, prepare a draft of a standardized guideline on all outputs from Fiscal council including all the steps and procedures;

(xi) The knowledge, information and skills gained during the duration of the project should be transferred to staff at the FC’s secretariat office.

D. DELIVERABLES

Submit completion report by the end of the assignment. The report should be in Mongolian and English if requested.

(i) Report on international best practices and operational standards for fiscal councils especially in resource rich countries;

(ii) Strengthened the existing MoUs and newly drafted MoUs;

(iii) Draft strategic plan along with International consultant’s deliverable; 

(iv) Report on the job description, requirements and the operational overlapping and differences between Fiscal Council and the budget analysis unit;

(v) Draft FC code of conduct;

(vi) Draft of a standardized guideline on all outputs from Fiscal council including all the steps and procedures;

E. CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS/ SELECTION CRITERIA

Education:  A suitable candidate must have at least a master’s degree in relevant field: economics, finance. 

Experience: A candidate should have at least 8 years of relevant professional experience, with specific experience in fiscal and financial fields. Moreover, he or she must have at least 5 years of working experience in relevant institutions such as ministry of finance, the central bank or line ministries. If a candidate has experience in the project implementation, it would also be advantage. 

Language skills: Excellent in both Mongolian and English. 

Other skills:

- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to function effectively and collaboratively in a team environment;

- Be proficient in PC based applications such as Word, Excel, Other econometric and statistical software including E-Views, Stata and data management, and have excellent web research and navigation skills;

- If there will be an offer from the FC, being able to continue working at the Fiscal council or its office will be an advantage. 

- Professional ethics towards information governance and privacy;

F. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING 

The consultant will report directly to both the Senior Officer of the Fiscal Council and the Coordinator of the project. He or she will also work closely with the SCBA to deliver the technical assistance outputs. A detailed timebound work plan shall be developed and agreed by the assignment. Payments shall be released based on the progress made towards the deliverables specified on the work plan.

G. CONTRACT DURATION 

The consultant’s work is expected to commence in November 2020. The duration of the assignment is for 6 months. 

H. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The consultant will be supported by not only experts of the Fiscal Council but also advisors of the SCBA under his/her contract for the main outputs. The Secretariat may provide office space if necessary.

If you possess the above qualifications, please submit following documents via email to procurement_sgm@sffs.mn:

    1. Cover letter indicating why she/he considers her/himself suitable for the position;

    2. Detailed CV highlighting relevant skills/experience;

    3. Copy of diplomas or certificates; and,

    4. 2 reference letters from previous last two employers no later than 17:00, November 19, 2020.

The submitted documents will not be returned to the applicants. Please note that incomplete applications would not be considered for evaluation. Only selected candidates will be contacted. Candidates can be interviewed. Detailed terms of reference can be requested from procurement_sgm@sffs.mn Contact address: Attn: Ms.Oyunyam, Procurement specialist, Strengthening Governance in Mongolia Project.