Question 108

How far in advance of the start of the budget year does the legislature receive the Executive’s Budget Proposal?
 * a. The legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least three months before the start of the budget year.
 * b. The legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least two months, but less than three months, before the start of the budget year.
 * c. The legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least one month, but less than two months, before the start of the budget year.
 * d. The legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal less than one month before the start of the budget year, or does not receive it all.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

OBS Guidelines
Question 108 examines how far in advance of the start of the most recent budget year the legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal. International good practice recommends that the Executive’s Budget Proposal should be submitted to the legislature far enough in advance to allow the legislature time to review it properly, or at least three months prior to the start of the fiscal year. (See, for instance, Principle 2.2.2 of the IMF’s Fiscal Transparency Handbook (2018).

For the purposes of responding to this question, if — and only if — the most recent budget submission occurred later than usual as a result of a particular event, such as an election, please use a more normal year as the basis for the response. If, however, delays have been observed for more than one budget year, and the legislature has not received the Executive’s Budget Proposal in a timely manner on more than one occasion in the last three years, then “d” will be the appropriate answer.

To answer “a,” the legislature must receive the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least three months in advance of the start of the budget year. Answer “b” applies if the legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least two months, but less than three months, before the start of the budget year. Answer “c” applies if the legislature receives the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least one month, but less than two months, before the start of the budget year. Answer “d” applies if the legislature does not receive the Executive’s Budget Proposal at least one month prior to the start of the budget year, or does not receive it at all.

1) What fiscal year should be assessed?
Unless there are identifiable exceptional circumstances, we should always answer this question considering the practice that happened in the latest fiscal year (or the year used for the Enacted Budget).

External references

 * IMF’s Fiscal Transparency Handbook (2018)