Vaseva Cerelala 17 April, 2021, 7:45 pm Participants share ideas at the EU funded UNDP Public Finance Management Modules Pilot Training. Picture: SUPPLIED/PIANGO Public Finance Management (PFM) in its most basic definition is simply how governments manage their resources, their public finances. If like me, you have wondered how the government decides which schools, roads and bridges to build and how a public hospital gets enough doctors or vaccines to serve the public, then you are well on your way to understanding PFM. So, how does government decide? One factor is the information available to them on where the money is needed the most.