Public financial management (PFM) has gone through a period of intense change since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008-2009 and its aftermath. These developments include the financial response to surging global debt, climate and gender considerations, fiscal transparency, fiscal risks, public investment, and digitalization and AI. At the same time, many of the basics of fiscal policy, financial management, budgeting, accounting, and cash and debt management remain in place. This anthology of collected work, first published through the PFM blog hosted by the IMF, describes these key developments from 2008 to 2025 and organizes them by topic. The book tells the story of these changes and their impact, and will be of interest to policymakers, public finance practitioners, scholars, advisors, and financial historians.

Richard Allen is a senior consultant and global adviser on public finance. He has advised finance ministers and governments in more than 90 countries worldwide. Richard has held senior positions at HM Treasury, the Board of the European Investment Bank, the OECD, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the IMF.

Sailendra Pattanayak is currently Division Chief at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. He has advised a wide range of countries of all income levels on public financial management issues, and has led policy and analytical work on fiscal transparency, GovTech/digitalization, fiscal governance, treasury management, and fiscal risks.