National Public Investment System of Ecuador

Ecuador

Table of Contents:

  1. Stakeholders
  2. Legal Framework
  3. Methodologies
  4. Public Investment Plans
  5. Investment Project Bank
  6. Training
  7. Project Management Cycle
  8. Public Investment Policy Cycle
Mapa de inversiones Training Methodologies Projects Bank Legal Framework Processes Stakeholders Instruments Formulation Planning Cross-cutting Processes Budgeting Evaluation Cross-cutting Processes Ex-ante Evaluation Selection Execution Ex-post Evaluation Other Stakeholders Public Investment Policy Cycle Staturory Governing Body Organic Code of Planning and Public Finance of Ecuador National Planning Secretariat Ministry of Economy and Finance National Public Administration Entities Steering Financing Coordination Information Project Management Cycle Pluriannual Public Investment Plan Annual Investment Plan
See System's Symbols Legend

 

Stakeholders

Statutory Governing Body:

According to the Agreement No. SNP-SNP-2021-0004-E, the National Planning Secretariat (SNP) will be in charge of leading and coordinating the national, territorial and public investment planning process through the articulation with the different planning levels, in order to guide the allocation of public resources within the framework of the National Development Plan. The SNP shall be responsible for the design, implementation, integration and direction of the National Planning System at all levels. The SNP, as the governing body for planning and public investment, has among its main competencies the integration and coordination of the different planning levels, as well as the preparation of the Annual and Multiannual Investment Plan. It prepares methodologies and advises on the formulation of investment projects for their registration in the Integrated Planning and Public Investment System. Likewise, he/she will be in charge of leading and directing the National Planning Secretariat, through the strategic participation of all institutional actors, in the fulfillment of the mission, objectives and legal provisions, which will be reflected in products that contribute to the recognition of planning as one of the axes that promotes equality, integration and social cohesion.

The same agreement specifies that it will prepare and/or update the proposal for the National Development Plan, sectoral plans, budget and other methodological guidelines and technical inputs necessary for the exercise of national planning. Finally, it is in charge of formulating the Annual and Multiannual Investment Plan of the General State Budget and analyzing the studies, programs and investment projects of public entities through the development of methodologies, guideline documents and/or reports on the relevance to be considered in the annual and multiannual investment programming. We consider that one of its most important functions is to monitor the National Development Plan, the National Territorial Strategy, the Intersectorial Agendas, Sectorial and Institutional Plans, the Development and Territorial Planning, the Zonal Coordination Agendas, the Deconcentration and Decentralization processes, studies, programs and investment projects, with the objective of generating timely alerts that allow improving and strengthening the policies and execution of public investment.

Related Entities:

The National Planning Secretariat works in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance which establishes the budget limits, assigs resources to investment projects and prepares the national budget. During the investment budget execution, the MEF monitors the financial physical progress of the public investment projects. For this, the timely report by the project executory entities on the E-SIGEF of the MEF is essential as well as the information that is shared on that platform with the Integrated Planning and Public Investment System.

Incorporated Entities:

The functions of the entities that are part of the National Public Administration include identification, formulation, ex-ante assessment and selection of projects approved to be included in the budget, as well as the implementation and operation of the public investment projects.

 

 

Legal Framework

The SNIP is mainly ruled by the Organic Code for Planning and Public Finance. This code establishes the system’s statutory governing body and its faculties. To orient implementation, the Regulations for the Organic Code for Planning and Public Finance were published, establishing the applicable regulations of the instruments and mechanisms of all stakeholders that are part of the National Decentralized System for Planning and Participation in the National Public Finance System, are subject to. See the complete legal framework.

 

Methodologies

The National Planning Secretariat has developed methodologies for the formulation and evaluation of investment projects. The document Normas para la Inclusión de Programas y Proyectos en los Planes de Inversión Pública (Norms for the Inclusion of Programs and Projects in Public Investment Plans) is a guide that orients project formulators in the procedures to follow to present a project from its formulation to its inclusion in the public investment plan. Among other criteria to be evaluated, this guide asks to express the Net Present Value (NPV) as well as the Internal Rate of Return (IRR). According to the type of project it may be necessary to carry out an identification of risks and environmental impact of the project to be executed.

The National Planning Secretariat has developed investment project formulation and assessment methodologies. The Document Regulations for Including Programs and Projects into Public Investment Plans is a guide that orients project formulators in the procedures to follow to present a project from its formulation until its inclusion in the public investment plan. Among criteria to assess this guide requests to express the Net Present Value (NPV) as well as the Internal Return Rate (IRR). According to the type of project, it could be necessary to identify the risks and environmental impact of the project to be executed. Other documents related to methodologies are the Public Investment Guidelines, the Methodological Guide for the presentation of public investment projects and the pre-investment guide.  Go to the complete list of methodologies.

Also available to public entities is the document Impact Assessment Methodologies (Corresponding to ex-post evaluation), which, as its name indicates, explores different methodological approaches to measure the impact of public investment projects once they have been completed. See the full list of methodologies (Available only in Spanish).

 

Public Investment Plans

The Plan for the Creation of Opportunities 2021 - 2025 (National Development Plan- NDP) contains the Pluriannual Public Investment Plan (PPIP). The PPIP is a public investment programming instrument that contains the technical and budgetary description of studies, programs and priority public investment projects for a 4-year period. It constitutes a programmatic reference tool that may be adjusted each year by the national planning entity at the time of defining the corresponding Annual Investment Plan.  

The PPIP establishes indicative amounts of public investment to be executed annually to achieve each of the 16 strategic objectives of the NDP and establishes the criteria for the prioritization of investment projects. Based on the guidelines of the NDP and the PPIP, each year the National Planning Secretariat, in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Sectoral Cabinets and the public entities and agencies (except for those entities that are not part of the General State Budget) prepare the Annual Public Investment Plan (PAI). The PAI contains the programming of public investments to be executed during the year by each of the entities and agencies, including the name and annual allocated amount of each project, with four-year projections per project and per institution. The PAI of each entity can be viewed on their respective official websites in the "Transparency" section.

 

Investment Project Bank

The Integrated Planning and Public Investment System (SIPeIP) is the investment project management tool managed by the National Planning Secretariat. This platform consolidates information generated based on the institutional planning methodology that prioritizes compliance with the goals of the National Development Plan, the implementation of the public policy, problems, and potentialities identified in the territories, mainstreaming of the approaches for equality and its concretion in public investment programs and projects. The SIPeIP supplies inputs for the follow-up and assessment of national and sectoral public policies. Likewise, public investment can be linked to the public policy instruments and the budget articulated to planning. Its design provides for interoperability with the E-SIGEF. The SIPeIP consists of four modules: planning, investment, follow-up and assessment, and the work follow-up module. To access the SIPeIP a username and password are needed.

 

Training

The National Planning Secretariat annually offers a training plan on different topics related to planning, monitoring and assessment of public investment projects and programs. Workshops are given too on the use of the Secretariat’s information systems. Its website gives information on the programming of the courses.

 

Project Management Cycle

The life cycle of the investment projects starts in the project formulation units according to the formulation and ex-ante assessment methodologies in force, including risk identification as per each project’s nature. Once the projects have been formulated, support is requested from the corresponding Sector Cabinet and potential sources of financing are identified (internal, external, concession, PPA) to submit the required information and documentation to the Integrated Planning and Public Investment System (SIPeIP). Then the project is analyzed by the National Planning Secretariat, which verifies the technical-economic consistency of the project, its connection to the National Development Plan’s goals. If the project meets the requirements established in the effective regulation the Favorable Prioritization Opinion is issued and the project can be included in the Annual Investment Plan (PAI). Externally financed projects need approval from the Central Bank too.

During the execution phase, the executory entities of the projects report on physical-financial progress to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the National Planning Secretariat. Both have monitoring systems where the executory entities register the progress of the projects. The E-SIGEF System of the MEF registers the financial progress while the SIPeIP of the National Planning Secretariat also stores the project bank and has the follow-up module to register the physical progress of the investment projects. Both platforms are internally controlled and have limited access for authorized public officers. Nonetheless, the progress of the investment projects can be consulted in the section "Transparency" of the websites of the projects’ executory entities. The Transparency section shows project files including their relevant ex-ante assessments and the monthly physical-financial progress of the projects in execution.

 

Public Investment Policy Cycle

The Public Investment Policy Cycle in Ecuador starts with the formulation of the National Development Plan, which defines, through a participative process, the strategic goals and projects the Pluriannual Investment (4 years) in line with each of the plan’s goals. Annually, the National Planning Secretariat receives and assesses the public investment projects and programs proposed by the different public entities, endorsed by the relevant sectoral cabinets of each entity and with an identified source of financing. To perform this analysis, the investment projects must be registered in the Integrated Planning and Public Investment System (SIPeIP). Once the projects have been registered in the SIPeP, the Project Analysis Directorate can assess compliance with the requirements, in accordance with the effective regulations. In case of compliance, the Prioritization Opinion is issued.

Based on the projects with a Favorable Prioritization Opinion the National Planning Secretariat in coordination with the sectoral cabinets prepare the Annual Investment Plan (PAI). To be incorporated into the PAI, the prioritized projects are hierarchically organized and receive a priority level from 1 to 5, 1 being the highest hierarchy and 5 the lowest. Each hierarchy level must not exceed 20% of the total number of projects, for which prioritization methodologies are applied and assignation criteria for the resources established in the National Development Plan (PND). Said criteria consider poverty reduction, economic impact, production chains, employment creation, competitiveness, etc. Once the investment projects have been classified, they enter the PAI, which is sent to the Ministry of Economy and Finance to be analyzed against the availability of resources and later incorporation into the Budget Bill. Then, the General Budget Bill of the State is sent to the National Assembly for discussion and possible approval.

In compliance with the Organic Planning and Public Finance Code, the executory entities must report on the physical-financial progress of the public investment projects and programs, which are used as material for preparing the Global Financial Assessment Report of the General Budget of the State, which is published by the MEF in coordination with the Technical Planning Secretariat. This document is submitted to the President of the Republic and the National Assembly.

 

Latest update: February 9, 2023