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Guide to Budget Work, October 2001 - Part 4, International Budget Project Part IV. For Further Information
9. IBP RESOURCES
In addition to this guide, the International Budget Project has a variety of other activities and resources designed to be of use to groups and researchers interested in learning more about applied budget work. These include the IBP and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities websites; other publications (including the IBP newsletter); trainings and workshops; and conferences and other meetings. Groups from Africa might also be interested in contacting our regional partner, the Africa Budget Project. As noted in Chapter 1, to contact the IBP about any of these activities or resources, write, call, or e-mail us at the following addresses:
International Budget Project of the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
820 First St, NE, Suite 510,
Washington, DC, 20002
Tel: 202 408 1080
Fax: 202 408 1056
E-mail: info@internationalbudget.orgThe IBP website — http://www.internationalbudget.org — contains a number of features that can help you become familiar with budget issues and budget work around the world, such as:
- A comprehensive Library of downloadable budget-related documents organized by subject. These documents are selected from a variety of sources for clarity, relevance, and usefulness;
- A Groups Section that includes information and contact details for many of the budget groups the IBP works with;
- An extensive Resource Section with a list of other websites of relevance to applied budget work, organized by subject and region;
- Search engines that can search the site directly as well as all other sites (such as the World Bank and IMF libraries) that are linked to the IBP site; and
- Considerable information about the activities of the International Budget Project, including its three international conferences.
A map of the IBP website is located in Appendix VI.
The website of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (the IBP is part of this organization) also is of use. It contains a wide range of reports in areas such as federal and state budget and tax issues; food, housing, and health policies; and poverty and income distribution. See http://www.cbpp.org.
There are a few key IBP publications of interest in learning about budget work. Parts of these publications have already been referenced in this guide. Four publications, in particular, contain a wide range of examples of NGO budget work and other activities.
- A Taste of Success. This report consists of a dozen relatively short case studies divided into two broad categories: organizational development and training, and analyzing and affecting budget policies. The NGOs examined in the case studies are from the countries of Croatia, India, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Tanzania. The case studies that cover specific analyses contain background context, a summary of the issue, the action taken by the NGO, the results obtained, and the lessons learned — lessons from which other NGOs can benefit. This document might be helpful for developing a framework for what a new budget group can accomplish; for selecting applied budget studies; and for figuring out how to implement these efforts. See http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/success.htm.
- Budget Analysis for Anti-Poverty and Rights Work. This in-depth report on the third conference of the IBP, held in Mumbai (Bombay), India, in November 2000, includes a wealth of information on applied budget work, such as the papers presented at the conference, supplementary materials, the list of participants, and summaries of all the workshops. The conference topics were budget analysis to address the problems of the poor; the link between budget and human rights work; and tax and poverty work. The report is available as a CD-ROM and can also be found on our website at http://www.internationalbudget.org/cdrom/home.htm.
- The IBP Newsletter. Since January 2001 the IBP has published a free bi-monthly newsletter. Available in both English and Spanish, the newsletter contains ongoing updates about the work of the IBP, the work of budget NGOs around the world, and new resources on budget issues. To sign up for the newsletter visit http://www.internationalbudget.org/nlsignup.htm. Previous issues of the newsletter can be found on the newsletter archive at http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/newsletter.htm.
- Can civil society add value to budget decision-making? This August, 2001 IBP paper provides a detailed discussion of the role that civil society has played and could play in each stage of the budget cycle. It provides an overview of the activities of applied budget groups in the developing world. See http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/library/civilsociety.pdf.
As noted in Chapter 7, the IBP and its colleagues at other organizations have also begun to publish reports on budget transparency and participation that are specifically designed for general usage. The key publication to date has been the report on Transparency and Participation in South Africa's Budget Process, a joint publication of Idasa's Budget Information Service and the IBP. Though the report is specifically focused on the South African budget system, it also attempts to lay out some basic principles that are valuable in understanding budget systems of other countries. See http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/library/transparencyfinal.pdf. Additional publications in this area will soon be posted on the IBP website.
9.3 Training and Technical Assistance
Our current courses include basic workshops taking place at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in the United States and at Idasa in South Africa. These workshops provide a comprehensive overview of these budget organizations as well as an introduction to analytical methods and budget advocacy. The courses may be particularly useful for managers of new budget organizations and new staff in existing organizations. The IBP has also provided an introductory course on public expenditure management with the World Bank and regularly contributes to other trainings offered by international development institutions. In the future, the IBP is exploring an expansion in its training activities, such as providing an intermediate-level course on budget analysis methods, budget systems, and advocacy that would draw on the experience of practitioners in our partner organizations.
The IBP, on a limited basis, and subject to the availability of our own resources, also provides technical assistance and training to specific groups. This can come in the form of e-mail exchanges; short visits to the IBP; visits by IBP staff to organizations; and IBP review of proposed reports and work plans.
9.4 Conferences and Regional Meeting
Periodically, the IBP holds international conferences and regional meetings. These sessions tend to focus on particular topics — such as transparency in the budget process, budget and poverty work, or developing a regional agenda — but also include training in applied budget work. New researchers and groups have tended to find participation in these conferences and meetings to be an excellent mechanism for moving their own budget work forward, and for making contacts with other groups throughout the world with which they might want to exchange information.
The IBP has now held three international conferences. The first occurred in Washington, D.C. in December 1997 and the IBP was the sole host. The second was co-hosted with Idasa, and was located in Cape Town, South Africa in February 1999; the theme of this conference was "Transparency and Participation in the Budget Process." The third conference took place in Mumbai, India in November 2000; its theme was "Budget Analysis for Anti-Poverty and Rights Work" and it was co-hosted by the Ford Foundation (New Delhi), the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (Bangalore), Development Initiative for Social and Human Action (Ahmedabad), National Centre for Advocacy Studies (Pune), Vidhayak Sansad's Centre for Budget Studies (Mumbai), and Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (Mumbai).
The proceedings of these conferences and certain regional meetings have been written up in detail. These include the CD-ROM on the third conference discussed in Section 9.2. In addition, the agenda, participants, and transcripts of most of the presentations from the second conference can be found on the IBP website. These presentations cover the conference theme of transparency and participation in the budget process, as well as case studies of organizational development and budget trainings. Go to http://www.internationalbudget.org/conference/2nd/.
A regional workshop on the growing use of budget analysis in India also produced an informative report. This publication, prepared by staff of the Ford Foundation in New Delhi, summarizes the presentations and discussions at the workshop, which covered examples of budget analysis at the state, local, and district level; explores the use of budget information and the role of budget advocacy; and examines the implications of budget work in addressing poverty. See http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/library/goaworks.pdf.
The IBP's regional base for Africa, the Africa Budget Project, can be of assistance to researchers and NGOs in that continent. The Africa Budget Project is part of the budget project of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa. The project works with other African organizations to build the capacity of civil society, legislatures, and the media to engage in budget issues. Activities include joint research projects (including a cross-country budget transparency effort), training, information collection, and dissemination (including a data base on participating organizations, African budget issues, technical assistance, and networking activities). Its website is: http://www.idasa.org.za/m_main.php?view=10&project_id=2200&webzone_id=2000&project_name=AfricaBudgetProject, or email juliana@idasact.org.za.
10. OTHER RESOURCES
This chapter describes four types of resources that contain additional information on budget issues. First, a thorough examination of whatever information is available about your national or sub-national budget is, of course, essential. Section 10.1 briefly describes where to start searching for this information.
An overall, up-to-date assessment of a country's budget system and budget issues might be available from the international sources described in Section 10.2, as the effort to diagnose and improve budget systems continues to progress around the world. In gathering information about a country, there may also be regional information that is of use, or it might be useful to examine the budget information available about countries comparable to your own.
There is a growing body of international budget literature, much of which is collected on the websites of certain international institutions. The main websites that provide a broad range of these resources are discussed in Section 10.3.
There are also a few essential documents on budget issues and budget systems that can be accessed on the web. These documents, which are mostly general in nature, are listed and briefly described in Section 10.4.
Of further note, the websites of the international institutions and the documents collected there frequently are available in a variety of languages.
10.1 Where to Find Information on Budget Issues in a Country
In the attempt to gather information about your country's budget, you will likely encounter the same obstacle that other new groups have faced: inadequate information and data. Some countries have a history of confidentiality on matters concerning the budget and related issues. Other nations have reasonably well-structured legislation that provides a framework for release of budget information, but the information might be of low relevance and the underlying data can be poor. Still other countries could be in a transition period where budget systems are undergoing reform, and processes, legislation, and financial reporting are difficult to access and interpret.
Nevertheless, there is likely to be at least some useful information at hand. The starting point is typically the basic budget documentation or books issued by the national or state Ministry of Finance, or by the local budget office. The Finance Ministry, in theory, is responsible for providing the legislature and the public with information about budgets in a comprehensive and readily accessible format. But there are other sources that could provide useful information: the President's Office, individual ministries, Central Bank, Central Statistical Office, Revenue Board, legislative committees, Auditor General, Comptroller General, Ombudsman, research institutions, Chamber of Commerce, private auditors, universities, and bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors. (In addition, your country might have finished a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper which, as noted in the next section, can be found on the World Bank website.)
Ingenuity can also pay off. The Indian organization DISHA, for instance, began to acquire budget information that was not readily available to the public by going directly to members of the state legislature, who typically discarded the large budget books that were given to them by the executive branch of government. The budgets were incomprehensible to these legislators. DISHA was given these unused copies and soon was explaining the documents to the legislators themselves.
10.2 Country Reports by International Institutions
Particularly if your work focuses on the national level, international institutions such as the World Bank or the IMF — or regional institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank or the Asian Development Bank — may have produced reports about budget issues in your country. These websites often organize all the information they have with respect to individual countries into separate sections; so as a first step, it is worth taking a look at the "country page" contained on the websites of various international institutions. The country pages for the Asian Development Bank, the IMF, and the World Bank are:
Several kinds of comprehensive World Bank and IMF reports that might provide helpful background materials are listed below, as are the websites in which these reports are collected. These websites, too, often include specific country listings.
- Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs) — A PER is a country report on public sector issues in general and public expenditure issues in particular. One of the core objectives of a PER is to help a country establish effective and transparent mechanisms to allocate available public resources in a manner that promotes economic growth and reduces poverty. Common topics in a PER include: analysis and projection of revenue, determination of the level and composition of public spending, inter- and intra-sectoral analysis, financial and non-financial public sector enterprises, structure of governance, and the functioning of public institutions. (See http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/p1pers.htm.)
- Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) — Recently interim PRSPs have been developed for many low-income countries. The ambition has been to develop a process in which a country develops its own poverty reduction strategy with the participation of civil society and the private sector, and that the resulting PRSPs provide the basis for all World Bank and IMF concessional lending, as well as additional debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. A PRSP outlines the country's plans to foster growth and reduce poverty through three-year programs that include macroeconomic, structural, and social policies, and it is in this context that the document includes useful information on budgets. Moreover, it is likely that future PRSPs will include an increased focus on budget-related issues. (See http://www.imf.org/external/np/prsp/prsp.asp).
- IMF Reports on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) — A ROSC represents a comprehensive report on topics, including internationally accepted standards on fiscal, monetary, and financial policy; banking regulation; data dissemination; and securities and insurance markets — all issues directly or indirectly related to public finances. The number of countries undertaking ROSCs is increasing, and ROSCs are likely to continue to grow in importance, though they are not mandatory for countries that have an agreement with the IMF. The reports provide useful information for country analysis and cross-country comparisons. A large number of experimental ROSCs are available on-line at http://www.imf.org/external/np/rosc/rosc.asp, including reports for developing countries like Uganda.
Groups that operate in countries where little budget research has been undertaken also might be able to learn lessons from countries with similar backgrounds. It is, for instance, likely that groups in countries in the Commonwealth would find analyses of systems and processes in other Commonwealth countries more relevant than analyses from non-Commonwealth countries. Similarly, countries in the former East Bloc would benefit from work that has been undertaken on particular parts of budget systems in other former East Bloc countries. It is also likely that groups that operate in countries with parliamentary systems would want to turn to information about other parliamentary systems, with the same principle applying to groups in presidential systems.
10.3 International Websites and Training Courses
Several international websites contain general budget resources that are of use. The sites each have their own focus related to the mandate of the organization that is hosting the site, but some sections of these sites are clearly relevant to the work of budget groups. The sites are frequently updated and often include country-specific information in addition to more generic presentations on issues related to budgets.
Example:
"Public Expenditure On-line" of the World Bank http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/index.htm
This site includes information on various topics related to budgets and public expenditure. It is a good starting point for anyone who is interested in reading about how these issues are viewed at the World Bank. It includes numerous links to general documents and country-specific reports.
Example:
Governance and Public Expenditure Management Cluster of the Asian Development Bank http://www.adb.org/Governance/govpub.asp
The main purpose of the ADB's Governance Cluster is to enhance the ADB's capacity for effective assistance in the areas of governance and public sector management (including anti-corruption). The site includes a number of articles and reports on public finance.
Example:
Standards and Codes of the IMF http://www.imf.org/external/standards/index.htm
The IMF has developed internationally recognized standards, or "codes of good practices," in various areas. The objectives of these standards are to help improve economic policy making and strengthen the international financial system. Some of the codes cover areas of direct relevance to budget work, such as the Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency. Others cover issues that are more related to the IMF's operational mandate. The site includes a substantial number of country reports.
Example:
OECD Programme on Public Management and Governance (PUMA) http://webnet1.oecd.org/oecd/pages/home/displaygeneral/0,3380,EN-home-notheme-9-no-no-no-0,00.html
The OECD PUMA site covers a wide range of issues related to governance and budgeting. Topics include: budgeting in the public sector; ethics and corruption; public sector statistics; and information by country. The site also has a special section on Central and Eastern European countries.
Example:
OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs (good website for tax issues) http://www.oecd.org/daf/fa/first_en.htm
The mission of this OECD committee is to "provide an open forum for the tax policymakers and administrators from Member countries and non-member countries to discuss current policy issues; to assist its Member countries to improve the design and operation of their tax systems; to promote co-operation and co-ordination among these countries in the area of taxation; to encourage non-member countries to adopt taxation practices which promote economic growth through the development of international trade and investment."
Example:
Key Instruments for Institutional and Governance Analysis, The World Bank. http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/keyinstruments.htm
This site includes the major analytic instruments used by the World Bank in its work on issues related to public budgets.
Example:
Standards and Codes Homepage, U.S. Department of Treasury. http://www.ustreas.gov/standards/
This website provides links to 12 standards identified by the Financial Stability Forum as important to promoting financial stability, including data and accounting standards. (The Forum is a new international effort to promote financial stability, drawing its membership from national governments, international institutions, and central banks.)
Chapter 6 of this guide mentioned three comprehensive courses on budgeting and public expenditure management by the World Bank which can serve as "model agendas" for NGOs designing their own training courses. They are mentioned again here because the courses might be helpful for you to go through yourself. The courses are described in some detail in Section 6.2; briefly they are:
Example:
"Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and Local Financial Management," World Bank Institute http://www1.worldbank.org/wbiep/decentralization/default.html
This is a comprehensive course on Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and Local Financial Management. It is tailored to address specific country and regional interests, and would be useful in part or in full. It provides a framework to identify key issues for strengthening the roles and responsibilities among governments. The course includes 13 major topics; for each topic there are papers and suggested readings.Example:
"Budgetary Processes and Public Expenditure Management," World Bank Institute, 2000 http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/budgetprocess.htm
This is a comprehensive training program for senior policymakers in the World Bank's client countries.
Example:
"Public Expenditure Analysis and Management Training Course," World Bank, May 22-24, 2001 http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/pemtraining.htm
This is the World Bank Thematic Group's main course on Public Expenditure Analysis and Management.
Within the above websites, there are a number of documents worth highlighting that discuss budget issues generally.
Example:
Managing Government Expenditure, Asian Development Bank, 1999. http://www.adb.org/documents/manuals/govt_expenditure/
This is a comprehensive, well-written guide to contemporary budgeting systems and issues. It is about 500 pages in length, with the introductory chapter providing a useful overview of the rest of the guide. The next-to-last chapter provides a summary of recent budget reform movements in OECD countries, and the final chapter tackles the difficult issue of sequencing budget reform. Other chapters cover the issues raised in standard texts, such as classifications, execution, cash management, accounting standards, programming, and performance, as well as the role of various parts of the government — such as the legislature — in preparing and approving the budget.
Example:
A Contemporary Approach to Public Expenditure Management, World Bank Institute, 1999. http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/contemporary.htm
This paper, written by one of the foremost experts on international budget issues, provides a relatively concise, clearly written introduction to contemporary public expenditure management. The first chapter provides the overall context, describing the pressures for financial reform as well as the primary tools of change. The remainder of the text takes the reader step by step through the "three level" model — aggregate fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency, and operational efficiency — of public expenditure management.
Example:
The Public Expenditure Management Handbook, The World Bank, 1998. http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/english.htm
This is the standard World Bank text on new public expenditure management techniques. It covers similar topics as the reading immediately above, but draws on a broader set of global experiences; the handbook's content was coordinated by one of the leading developers of the three level model. An appendix provides a diagnostic for improving budgetary and financial management.
Example:
"Does Budgeting have a Future?," OECD, 2001. http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/schickpaper.doc
This paper covers the major recent shifts in budgetary conventions and methods in developing and developed countries. It is a clear and accessible historical text and concludes with a set of possible future trends in international budgeting.
Example:
Managing Public Expenditure: A Reference Book for Transition Countries, OECD, 2001. http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/oecdpemhandbook.pdf
This broad text is designed for practitioners but is written in accessible language. The first set of chapters provide a detailed definition of core budgetary issues, such as alternative classifications, budgetary reform programs, accounting standards, the role of different parts of the government in the budget, and implementation issues. The latter part of the text is devoted to an in-depth description of budgeting procedures in the European Union.
Example:
Public Spending for Poverty Reduction, The World Bank, April 2001, Draft for Comments. http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/strategies/chapters/pubspend/ps0525.pdf
This chapter of a World Bank source-book describes good budgeting practices in implementing pro-poor policies through PRSPs. The chapter is organized around three practical issues: understanding the budget system, assessing alternative spending options, and improving the quality of spending and resource management. The last of these sections includes a set of best practices on medium term budgets, performance budgeting, transparency, and participation. A set of useful technical notes are appended, covering expenditure tracking and impact assessment methodologies. Two case studies also are appended on the implementation of the MTEF in Ghana and Uganda.
Example:
Budgeting and Policymaking, OECD, 1996. http://appli1.oecd.org/olis/1996doc.nsf/62f30f71be4ed8a24125669e003b5f73/49bc701efe3f7029c125635e003453b1/$FILE/07E69267.ENG
This document, produced by the Public Management arm of the OECD, is intended as a resource on budgeting for finance officials and practitioners in transition countries. It draws together a set of technical papers on budget formulation and implementation, using current best-practice examples drawn from OECD countries. The sections cover policy and budgeting disharmony, systems for policy decisions and budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and the problem areas of public enterprises and transfer payments.
