Guidelines for Public Expenditure Management

Guidelines for Public Expenditure Management
Author: Mr.Jack Diamond
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 84
Release: 1999-07-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781557757876

Traditionally, economics training in public finances has focused more on tax than public expenditure issues, and within expenditure, more on policy considerations than the more mundane matters of public expenditure management. For many years, the IMF's Public Expenditure Management Division has answered specific questions raised by fiscal economists on such missions. Based on this experience, these guidelines arose from the need to provide a general overview of the principles and practices observed in three key aspects of public expenditure management: budget preparation, budget execution, and cash planning. For each aspect of public expenditure management, the guidelines identify separately the differing practices in four groups of countries - the francophone systems, the Commonwealth systems, Latin America, and those in the transition economies. Edited by Barry H. Potter and Jack Diamond, this publication is intended for a general fiscal, or a general budget, advisor interested in the macroeconomic dimension of public expenditure management.

Managing Budgetary Virements

Managing Budgetary Virements
Author: Mr.Sandeep Saxena
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 24
Release: 2016-04-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513509055

Virements are useful instruments of budget flexibility. If carried out transparently and within accepted limits, virements can promote expenditure efficiency. Large, unregulated virements can undermine budget credibility and the budget’s relevance as principal policy and financial planning instrument. This note defines virements, clarifies their purpose, and specifies what general and country-specific considerations should guide the design of a virement framework. The note argues that countries should design virement policies maintaining balance between their budget flexibility and accountability needs, and keeping in view the legal-cultural environment and the state of development of their public financial management.

Public Expenditure Management

Public Expenditure Management
Author: A. Premchand
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 300
Release: 1993-03-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781557753236

This book, by A. Premchand, a former Assistant Director of IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, provides a comprehensive discussion of the expenditure process in public authorities from a management perspective. It covers the various aspects, ranging from budget formulation to the courteous delivery of services to the public. In each, it considers the critical issues faced in industrial and developing countries and formerly centrally planned economies and discusses the efforts necessary to assure the public about the adequacy of public expenditure management machinery.

From Stimulus to Consolidation

From Stimulus to Consolidation
Author: Juan Toro R.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2010-10-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1455217611

This paper identifies policy tools that could be used for fiscal consolidation in advanced and emerging economies in the years ahead. The consolidation strategy, particularly in advanced countries, should aim to stabilize age-related spending in relation to GDP, reduce non-age-related expenditure ratios, and increase revenues. Bold reforms are needed to offset projected increases in age-related spending, particularly health care. On the revenue side, measures could include improving tax compliance, for example through better international cooperation, as well as increasing the yield from VAT by eliminating exemptions and reduced rates, further developing property taxes, and increasing excise rates within the range of rates already applicable in comparable countries.

Military Expenditure Data in Africa

Military Expenditure Data in Africa
Author: Wuyi Omitoogun
Publisher: SIPRI Research Reports
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780199245024

The international reporting of military expenditure data for African states is poor in many respects. Figures that are published are often at variance with the socio-economic realities of the countries. This study examines the availability and reliability of official military expenditure data for six countries in West, Central and East Africa, using a combination of interviews with key actors in the military budgeting process and analysis of official documents in the countries selected. The author concludes that data are indeed available in many of these countries but that the quality of the data varies from country to country. Two main factors account for this - the influence of the donors of economic aid, whose insistence that artain certain maximum level of expenditure on defence should not be exceeded has encouraged the manipulation of data by the countries concerned; and the general loss of capacity in several countries to compile the necessary statistics.

Municipalities and Finance

Municipalities and Finance
Author: Nick Devas
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2012-06-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136560777

Finance is a critical issue for municipal governments around the world, and a major constraint on the delivery of pro-poor services at the local level. In many countries, decentralisation has brought the issue of municipal finance to the fore. This sourcebook provides a framework for analysing municipal finance capacity and ways of addressing financial constraints. The ideas come from real-life innovative practice in four countries - India, Brazil, Kenya and Uganda - with additional examples from elsewhere. Emphasis is given to how those innovations and improvements were developed and sustained. The book identifies a strategic framework for diagnosing municipal finance capacity and focusing financial goals. It applies the analysis to a number of critical areas of municipal finance including local taxes, charges for services, budgeting, cost control, accounting reforms and investment finance. This is the third in a series of capacity-building sourcebooks that includes Focusing Partnerships: A Sourcebook for Municipal Capacity Building in Public-Private Partnerships and Municipalities and Community Participation: A Sourcebook for Capacity Building.