Open Budget Index 2006 - Philippine Center for Investigative ...
Open Budget Index 2006 - Philippine Center for Investigative ...
Open Budget Index 2006 - Philippine Center for Investigative ...
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Table 2<br />
Availability of Key <strong>Budget</strong> Documents<br />
Out of 59 Countries Completing the Questionnaire<br />
Pre-<strong>Budget</strong><br />
Statement 23 23 13<br />
Executive’s<br />
Proposal<br />
Enacted<br />
<strong>Budget</strong><br />
In-year<br />
Reports<br />
Mid-year<br />
Report<br />
26<br />
53 6 0<br />
59 0 0<br />
47 9 3<br />
11 22<br />
Year-end<br />
Report<br />
50<br />
4 5<br />
Audit<br />
Report<br />
42 13 4<br />
0 10 20 30 40 50 60<br />
Document Publicly Disclosed<br />
Produced, but Not Disclosed<br />
Not Produced<br />
The Executive’s <strong>Budget</strong> Proposal<br />
One of the most important budget documents issued during the course of the budget year is the<br />
executive’s annual budget proposal. This document is a government’s declaration of the policies<br />
that it will choose to pursue during the upcoming budget year. The legislature’s approval of the<br />
executive’s proposal suggests its concurrence with the government’s chosen priorities. A serious<br />
cause <strong>for</strong> concern was the study’s finding that only five of the 59 countries surveyed provide the<br />
extensive in<strong>for</strong>mation to citizens in the budget proposal necessary to ensure accountability. These<br />
are France, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.<br />
Countries that per<strong>for</strong>med poorly did so because the proposal (or the series of documents that<br />
<strong>for</strong>med the proposal) did not provide a comprehensive picture of the government’s fiscal position<br />
during the upcoming year, as well as in future years. For example, in some countries, the documents<br />
do not lay out the government’s policy goals and explain how planned spending will assist in<br />
achieving them. Other governments do not disclose detailed in<strong>for</strong>mation on revenues expected, the<br />
value of tax breaks, the amount and destinations of transfers and grants to other levels of<br />
government, subsidies to entities such as public corporations, plans to borrow, any delays in making<br />
payments due, or loan guarantees. Finally, some governments commonly do not disclose their<br />
financial and non-financial assets or in<strong>for</strong>mation on the current per<strong>for</strong>mance of, and future liabilities<br />
and risks to, pension and other social security schemes.<br />
11