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

474 Alta Fölscher
The MPERs are targeted for completion in December, when the initial
macrofiscal process draws to a close with the approval, publication, and submission
to the legislature of the BOPA. The BOPA contains a budget framework
in which indicative sector ceilings are proposed. These ceilings are in the
future expected to be the rolled-over forward ceilings of the previous year’s
final MTEF, with an indicative ceiling for the third year.
Although the SWGs continue the bottom-up expenditure planning
process, the public expenditure review (PER) secretariat in the Ministry of
Planning and National Development undertakes an analysis of the MPERs,
as well as of aggregate macroeconomic and fiscal outcomes to prepare the
PER. The PER provides a cross-sector, cross-ministry, and cross-budget
analysis of public expenditure and public expenditure management. It contains
a detailed analysis of the fiscal aggregates and the composition across
ministries in terms of economic classification.
Armed with the guidelines of the first circular and the BOPA regarding
macro- and microfiscal strategy and informed by the MPERs—and in some
cases ministerial SWG submissions—the SWGs craft sector expenditure
strategies that link policy and budgeting and ensure intrasectoral linkages
and tradeoffs within sectors. Toward the end of the SWG process, a series of
sector hearings is held. Before the sector hearings, first drafts of the SWG
reports are published on the Internet. The sector hearings are open, but the
Ministry of Finance also invites key commentators in each sector. After
the sector hearings, the SWGs finalize their reports, taking into account the
discussions at the sector hearings.
The SWG reports are the main instrument through which sectors and
their component ministries bid for additional resources and justify their
current spending. After the finalization of the sector reports, a series of
sector-based meetings is held with the Ministry of Finance and the Budget
Steering Committee to discuss sector proposals.
Work on the Budget Strategy Paper (BSP) starts after the sector bid meetings.
This paper details the allocation to sectors and ministries and draws on
the SWG reports, the PER, and the MPERs to provide a detailed narrative on
ministerial programs against allocations. The BSP is published approximately
three months before the detailed budget is submitted to the legislature and is
also approved by the cabinet and provided to the legislature (from 2007/08
onward). The BSP does not break down the expenditure allocations to the
same level as the annual budget, but it provides aggregate allocations, a programmatic
narrative, and targets for outputs and outcomes.
When the BSP is complete, ministries prepare their detailed annual
budget submissions. These submissions are discussed in great detail with the