Access the International Budgeting Practices and Procedures Database

• Provides information on budget institutions in 97 countries.
• Results of the 2007 OECD survey of the 30 OECD and 8 non-OECD countries.
• Results of the 2008 World Bank/OECD/CABRI ⁽¹⁾ survey of 59 non-OECD countries in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East and North Africa.
• Benefited from the collaboration between international organizations, finance ministries, civil society organizations and peer learning groups.

Introduction

The International database is a unique and publicly available source of information to understand the wide diversity of budget practices and procedures across the globe. A total of 89 questions span the entire budget cycle, from budget formulation and approval (including the use of performance information), execution, and accounting and audit⁽²⁾. The database constitutes an important step in the complex task of sharing best practises and developing common standards. No other database exists for such a broad range of countries, nor reflects the same conceptual basis.

This note presents, some preliminary highlights focusing on Asian (East Asia and Central Asia) and African respondents countries, a sub-set of 68 countries⁽³⁾, as well as information on the methodology underlying the data. Although this represents only a fraction of the information contained within the database, it is hoped that it will whet the appetite of the reader and demonstrate its utility for practitioners, academics and civil society alike.

Highlights

Top down budgeting, in general, is seen as a means to strengthen strategic planning and budget discipline by giving ministries a hard budget constraint based on available budgetary resources.Top down budgeting is more common in African and Asian respondent countries than in OECD countries, perhaps a legacy of development planning during the 1970s and 1980s and the inability to meet assessed needs with available resources (see Table 1). Chapter level ceilings are more common in African than in the Asian respondent countries. Interestingly, line item ceilings are more common in OECD countries.

Multi-year expenditure targets / ceilings are generally considered an effective tool to strengthen fiscal discipline, increase predictability of budget outcomes and optimize resource allocation. From the results, it appears that multi-year expenditure targets are used most extensively in OECD countries. African respondent countries have adopted targets / ceilings more than those in Asia (see Table 2). However, there appears to be a more comprehensive use of multi-year expenditure targets in the OECD relative to African / Asian respondents.

Methodology

Country data was collected on-line using a designated survey website and monitored to follow respondent's progress. During the first round of the survey in 2007 data from 30 OECD and 8 non-OECD countries was collected. This was followed, in 2008, by a more comprehensively distributed survey supported by CABRI for Africa, and the World Bank for other regions.

Using this method, 64% of the Asian and 77% of the African countries contacted completed the survey in 2008. What's more, few questions were left blank; the average survey response was 95% completed with only little variation across the different sections -- a similar figure to that of OECD countries in 2007. While a peer review has been conducted for the African data, the reviews for non-OECD and non-African countries are yet to be completed. Naturally, there is an inevitable trade-off between a survey that respects respondent's answers and one that is based on real data. The review methodology involved seeking clarification from surveyed countries. Respondents remained an owner of the reported information: only they were permitted to adjust their responses.

Notes
⁽¹⁾ CABRI stands for Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative.

⁽²⁾ Developing countries answered 99 questions in total, with additional questions related to aid management.

⁽³⁾ Asian respondent countries included Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand and Vietnam. Japan and South Korea are counted in both the OECD and Asia groups. Data for Japan and South Korea was collected from 2007 OECD Survey, all other Asia data was collected 2008 World Bank / OECD Survey. African respondent countries included Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Data for Morocco and Tunisia was collected from 2007 OECD Survey, all other Africa data was collected 2008 CABRI / OECD Survey.