An Analysis of Government Revenue and Expenditure in ... - TARA

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statement of such financial flows between various sectors would be
of great interest in the consideration of monetary policy. A
complete system of financial statistics would, of course, show the
financial flows for each of the main sectors of the economy, the
classification being extended to include insurance companies, other
financial institutions, etc. The classification by type of borrowing
would also naturally have to be extended to include all the main
types of financial assets and liabilities such as money, central
government securities, local government securities, ordinary stocks
and shares, etc.
Reference was made earlier to a classification of expenditure
according to purpose, and Table 3 shows the results of crossclassifying
central government expenditure in 1957/58 by economic
type and by purpose of expenditure. There are three main divisions
by purpose, general services, economic and community services
and social services. Each of these groups is further subdivided.
In deriving the figures it was possible in certain cases to
allocate entire votes in the Appropriation Accounts to one purpose
but sometimes it was necessary to divide votes between many purposes.
The method of allocation of votes to specific purposes is
shown in Appendix III. A similar type of allocation was used for
expenditures which were not recorded in votes in the Appropriation
Accounts.
Out of a total of £163*2 million current and capital expenditure
by central government in 1957/58, social services accounted for
£73*7 million, economic and community services for £49*6 million,
general services for £19*8 million and debt services for £17-2
million, while £2-9 million could not be allocated. Social welfare
accounts for almost half of the expenditure on social services and
education for a little less than one-quarter. Housing and health
each account for nearly one-sixth of total expenditure on social
services. Two-fifths of the expenditure on economic and community
services relates to agriculture and about three-tenths goes
on transport and communication. Three-quarters of the expenditure
on general services is on defence, justice and police. Corresponding
total figures are shown for 1953/54.
Local Authority Accounts
Sufficient detail is not given in the Local Taxation Returns, nor
in the accounts of the individual local authorities which are used
in the compilation of the Local Taxation Returns, to enable as
great detail to be shown for local authorities as was done for the
central government sector. The principal defects are the inability
to distinguish payments on wages and salaries from other current
expenditure and to distinguish current and capital expenditure in
all cases.
Table 4 shows the consolidated current and capital accounts of
local authorities. Current receipts and expenditure have risen
each year but both capital receipts and expenditure have declined
each year since 1956/57. The main sources of current receipts
are rates and State grants, both of which show substantial increases
since 1953/54. Expenditure on transfer payments (subsidies,
national debt interest, etc.) shows marked increases from 1953/54