04 July 2007
Budgeting in Latin America Teresa Curristine, Maria Bas
This article provides a snapshot of the status of budgetary institutions, procedures and practices in Latin American countries based on the results of the OECD 2006 budget survey. Particular elements include: the legal framework and role of the legislature; fiscal rules; medium-term expenditure frameworks; performance information; and budget transparency.
04 July 2007
Comparing Budget and Accounting Measures of the Federal Government's Fiscal Condition OECD
This paper by the Congressional Budget Office examines two reports on fiscal policy in the United States: the budget and the government’s financial statements. The reports differ in concept and scope. Neither provides all of the relevant information about federal finances, but together they offer a more comprehensive perspective on the fiscal implications of present policies.
04 July 2007
Budget Reform in China Christine Wong
China has made crucial progress in the field of public expenditure management in the past ten years. This article reviews the reforms in budget formulation, approval, implementation and audit. Some weaknesses remain: for example, important decisions are still made outside of the budget process; and the highly decentralised fiscal system means that achievements at the national level have not been implemented at provincial and lower levels. Strengthening accountability mechanisms and enforcing aggregate fiscal discipline constitute the challenges for reforms in the next phase.
04 July 2007
Civil Service Reform in China John P. Burns
The Chinese government has undertaken extensive reforms to its civil service system over the past ten years. The capacity of the civil service has improved, but perhaps due to reasons other than civil service reform. This article reviews the government reforms in the context of the particular nature of the Chinese civil service system, and makes recommendations for further reforms.
04 July 2007
Implementing OMB's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) John B. Gilmour
This article examines the PART initiative of the United States Office of Management and Budget from a practical standpoint: how federal agencies have dealt with the requirements of PART and what strategies they have employed to be successful. The article highlights four challenges that confront both agencies and OMB as they work to complete assessments of all 1 000 programmes and describes approaches that agencies are taking to meet these challenges.
04 July 2007
Improving Public Sector Efficiency Teresa Curristine, Zsuzsanna Lonti, Isabelle Joumard
This article examines key institutional drivers that may contribute to improving public sector efficiency and focuses on one of them in more detail: performance information and its role and use in the budget process ("performance budgeting").
