Question 23

Does the Executive’s Budget Proposal or any supporting budget documentation present expenditures for individual programs for more than one year preceding the budget year (that is, BY-2 and prior years)?
 * a. Yes, programs accounting for all expenditures are presented for BY-2 and prior years.
 * b. Yes, programs accounting for at least two-thirds of, but not all, expenditures are presented for BY-2 and prior years.
 * c. Yes, programs accounting for less than two-thirds of expenditures are presented for BY-2 and prior years.
 * d. d.	No, expenditures are not presented by program for BY-2 and prior years.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

Guidelines
Question 23 asks if expenditure estimates for more than one year before the budget year (BY-2 and prior years) are presented by program. There is no standard definition for the term “program,” and the meaning can vary from country to country. However, for the purposes of answering the questionnaire, researchers should understand the term “program” to mean any level of detail below an administrative unit, such as a ministry or department. For example, the Ministry of Health’s budget could be broken down into several subgroups, such as “primary health care,” “hospitals,” or “administration.” These subgroups should be considered programs even if they could be, but are not, broken down into smaller, more detailed units.

A note for francophone countries: “Program” level detail is sometimes referred to as le plan comptable or le plan comptable detaille. (These data are typically coded in the financial management database, following the chart of budgetary accounts, so that they can be organized by administrative and functional classification.)

To answer “a,” the Executive’s Budget Proposal or its supporting documentation must present expenditures for all individual programs, accounting for all expenditures, for BY-2 and prior years. To answer “b,” the programs shown individually in the Executive’s Budget Proposal or its supporting documentation must account for at least two-thirds of all expenditures for BY-2 and prior years. A “c” answer applies if the Executive’s Budget Proposal or its supporting documentation presents programs that account for only less than two-thirds of expenditures. Answer “d” applies if expenditures are not presented by program.

1) "Other" categories
Watch out for aggregate categories, such as “other.” To receive an “a” answer, the “other” category has to be smaller than 3% of the total. If the “other” category is more than 3%, then the score should be “b.”

2) How should the term "program" be treated?
As the guidelines state, researchers should treat the term “program” as meaning any level of detail below an administrative unit. However, note that economic classification (e.g., “compensation”, “use of goods and services”, “consumption of fixed capital”, “interest”, “subsidies”, “grants”, “social benefits”, “other expenses”, etc.) below the administrative unit DOES NOT count. In addition, a sub-functional classification below a functional classification also does not count. In OBS 2019, for example, China released an Enacted Budget (see attached) that had sub-functional classifications within the functional classification of the budget. We did not count these sub-functional classifications as programs.

If you find a functional classification beneath an administrative classification, please bring it to the team.

3) What if prior-year information is not available?
If you see the approved budget for BY-2 for all programs, an "a" response is acceptable. It is enough to see BY-2 and not years prior to it.