Fiscal and Monetary Governance in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings

Political Authority, Institutional Pluralism, and the Limits of Technocratic Reform

Authors: Deval Desai and Ed Laws

Fiscal and monetary governance (FMG) is central to political authority, legitimacy, and state–society relations in fragile and conflict affected settings (FCAS). Traditional approaches often treat FMG as technical and siloed — focused on revenue collection, expenditure, and macroeconomic stability. Yet in FCAS, FMG is both inherently political, and inter-linked: it shapes and is shaped by contests over authority, institutional pluralism, and the processes through which collective value is defined and maintained. Understanding and engaging with this is central to building fiscal resilience — the capacity of fiscal systems to withstand shocks and adapt, and/or contribute to broader systemic resilience — which in turn is a key pillar of peace and stability.

This policy brief outlines the conceptual foundations, analytical challenges, and enduring trade-offs that should inform future research and policy engagement on fiscal and monetary governance (FMG) in fragile contexts. The brief draws on the findings of PeaceRep’s two-year programme of research into the constitutional dimensions of FMG, and an expert policy workshop on the topic on 10-11 March 2026.