Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series: Budgeting and ...

Budget Preparation and Approval 269
because the short run and the long run are part of the same time continuum,
the core institutional requirement is for close cooperation between the two
entities, whether they are located in different ministries or under the same
roof, as stressed earlier.
The Finance Function
The main roles of the entity responsible for finance are as follows:
Advise the government on all domestic and international aspects of
public finance.
Propose a revenue, expenditure, and budgetary policy, consistent with
the government’s objectives, and manage the implementation of such a
policy.
Devise and manage an efficient system for government payments.
Mobilize internal and external financial resources (in collaboration with
the planning entity).
Ensure an efficient financial regulatory framework to promote financial
integrity and combat fraud and manipulation.
Supervise all activities that entail an actual or contingent financial commitment
for the state.
Supervise the corporate governance of public enterprises and other
nongovernmental public sector entities, and monitor their financial
performance.
Take all measures to protect state assets and encourage their best use.
In pursuit of these roles, the entity responsible for finance must do the
following:
Prepare the medium-term macroeconomic framework in consultation
with the planning entity, consistent with broad government objectives,
for government consideration and approval.
Prepare the medium-term fiscal framework, consistent with the macroeconomic
framework and sectoral government policies, for government
consideration and approval.
Prepare the government budget, consistent with the medium-term fiscal
framework, in consultation with the other government entities, but not
sharing the responsibility.
Ensure consistency between capital and current expenditures (in consultation
with the planning entity).