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

Budget Preparation and Approval 271
Source: Author’s representation.
FIGURE 8.1 Simplified Organizational Structure of a Combined
Ministry of Finance and Planning
Presentation of the Budget to the Legislature
To permit informed debate and approval, the budget should be presented to
the legislature in a timely manner—that is, two to four months before the
start of the fiscal year. In some countries, the budget is submitted to the legislature
after the start of the fiscal year, owing to unavoidable delays in budget
preparation, change in the composition of the cabinet, or pending financial
negotiations with international financial institutions. In other countries,
however, delay is institutionalized, and the budget is systematically presented
to the legislature only days before the beginning of the fiscal year. This system
puts the legislature in the impossible position of either preventing the