By Jason Lakin, Ph.D.,
Nov 07, 2018
Mexico has an elaborate system of “budgeting for results,” of which budget programs are an important part. While program budgeting is not new in Mexico, the last decade has seen efforts to refine and consolidate the number of budget programs, and to enhance the quality and logic of performance indicators and targets. This case study examines Mexico’s approach to program budgeting in the health sector – in particular the advantages and disadvantages of having a large number of programs.
By Jason Lakin, Ph.D.,
Nov 07, 2018
The Philippines presents a somewhat unique case of program budgeting. The introduction of programs came after nearly a decade of challenges arising from performance-oriented budget reforms. Program budgeting was introduced in 2015 in part to address the accountability challenges of performance measures at the ministry level, but it was not fully implemented until 2018. Though it is too early draw conclusions about how well program budgeting is working in the Philippines, this case study presents insights we can glean from the process used to set up program structures in the health budget.
By Anja Rudiger, International Budget Partnership, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Transparency & Accountability Initiative, ,
Oct 30, 2018
Over the last two decades, intensive field building has supported the emergence of a wealth of civil society initiatives seeking to advance transparency and accountability in public finance at the local, national, and international level. Yet despite this progress, there is a growing sense among practitioners and experts in the field that transparency interventions have not sufficiently translated into accountability gains, or influenced public finance processes in ways that improve people’s lives. This paper presents an analysis of lessons learned and key questions about future work that we hope will assist fiscal transparency and accountability actors in the field, particularly civil society, in thinking critically about future strategies for transforming public finance in ways that improve the lives of poor and marginalized communities.
By Jason Lakin, Ph.D.,
Oct 25, 2018
Reasons that inform public policy must have certain qualities that make them intelligible to others. This paper, part of the International Budget Partnership’s Assessing Budget Credibility project, offers a set of criteria for judging both retrospective and prospective reasons governments give for budget choices and deviations in public budget documents.
By Perkumpulan Inisiatif, Seknas FITRA, and Jean Ross,
Oct 24, 2018
The agriculture, forestry, plantation, and marine fisheries sectors provide livelihoods for a significant fraction of the Indonesian population, yet contribute less than one out of every ten dollars of revenue received by provincial and national governments. Two Indonesian civil society organizations – Perkumpulan Inisiatif and Seknas FITRA – both with a strong background in budget analysis and advocacy – set out to understand the reasons why these sectors generate so little revenue and to develop strategies for improving governance and ensuring that local communities receive an appropriate share of the benefits from economic activity in these sectors.
By Mokeira Nyagaka, International Budget Partnership Kenya ,
Sep 05, 2018
Kenya’s Public Finance Management Act requires counties to develop an Annual Development Plan (ADP), which, along with the County’s 5-year County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), becomes the basis for the County’s annual budget. This guide explains how to read and use an Annual Development Plan for budget analysis and advocacy.
By International Budget Partnership Kenya,
Aug 03, 2018
In Kenya, national and county government are required to produce budget implementation reports that provide information on performance on revenue and expenditure. This information can be used to inform decision making for future budgets to improve the revenue collection and impact of government expenditure. This analysis of publicly available budget implementation reports from Kenya’s national and county governments shows that certain key sets of information is missing.
By International Budget Partnership,
Jul 16, 2018
This paper compiles raw expenditure and revenue outturn data for 74 countries using the most recent publicly available Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) reports. The analysis finds that, on average, aggregate spending projections are more credible than aggregate revenue projections; however, the average results hide great variation among countries. The analysis also examines explanations provided for budget deviations in PEFA reports and finds many explanations given are not sufficient.
By International Budget Partnership,
Jul 16, 2018
This paper approaches the issue of budget credibility from a transparency perspective, looking at the extent to which budget execution reports (In-Year Reports, Mid-Year Reviews and Year-End Reports) include detailed information comparing final outturns to original budgeted amounts for expenditure and revenue, and explanations for any significant deviations. The analysis focuses on publicly available budget documents collected through the Open Budget Survey for 24 countries. The majority of countries analyzed do provide budget credibility data – in particular in Year-End Reports – but analysis and explanations of deviations are a lot less common.
By Jean Ross, Consultant,
Jun 07, 2018
This paper provides a guide to assessing a country’s overall framework for establishing, reporting on, and evaluating tax expenditures using criteria that characterizes a good tax system: transparency, accountability, equity, efficiency, and adequacy.
