Question 79

Does the Mid-Year Review of the budget present expenditure estimates for the budget year underway for individual programs?
 * a. Yes, the Mid-Year Review presents estimates for programs accounting for all expenditures.
 * b. Yes, the Mid-Year Review presents estimates for programs accounting for at least two-thirds of, but not all, expenditures.
 * c. Yes, the Mid-Year Review presents estimates for programs accounting for less than two-thirds of expenditures.
 * d. No, the Mid-Year Review does not present expenditure estimates by program.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

OBS Guidelines
Question 79 asks if expenditure estimates in the Mid-Year Review 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.

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 Mid-Year Review must present expenditures for all individual programs, accounting for all expenditures. To answer “b,” the Mid-Year Review must present expenditures for individual programs that when combined account for at least two-thirds of expenditures, but not all expenditures. A “c” answer applies if the Mid-Year Review presents programs that account for less than two-thirds of expenditures. Answer “d” applies if expenditures are not presented by program in the Mid-Year Review.

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) Should we only accept updated, revised figures (as opposed to budgeted or six-month implementation figures)?
Just six-month implementation figures are not acceptable. To accept full-year figures that are the same as the original enacted figures, there has to be some indication that the country is affirming that the original enacted figures are remaining the same for the rest of the budget year (this could be as simple as the title of the column heading). For example, if the column heading is “Approved 2019 Budget,” we would not accept this information.