When work on improving fiscal transparency and accountability gained steam in the 2000s, it proceeded from a core set of assumptions about the global political context and the drivers of domestic governance reform. But in the past ten years, these assumptions have been thrown into question. The Fiscal Futures project recently sought to identify the foundational assumptions of fiscal transparency and accountability work, update them to fit today’s world, and assess the implications of these changes.
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Program budgeting is about making budgets more transparent, ensuring that public money is spent on the right priorities, and linking budgets more closely to the purposes of spending. IBP’s work on program budgets, in partnership with the World Health Organization, examines global practices related to budget program structure in health to shed light on how governments define program objectives as part of their broader quest to shift budgeting towards results that matter to citizens.
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After two decades of promoting open and accountable budgets around the world, the fiscal transparency and accountability field has reached a critical juncture. Although fiscal transparency norms and standards have gained ground, there is a sense that quantifying the deeper impact of budget work remains elusive. This challenge calls for critical reflection and new ideas. Earlier this year, the International Budget Partnership, the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace convened 35 fiscal transparency and accountability advocates, practitioners, scholars, and funders from 14 countries to review assumptions, rethink strategies, and imagine the future of public finance two decades from now.
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