Making Thai government budget and spending more transparent
By Jon Fernquest
Increased
government spending makes some people nervous.One reason: Taxpayers can't see how the government is spending the money they pay in taxes.
A Bangkok Post article yesterday looked at how transparent Thailand is in its government budget and spending compared to other countries.
Thailand didn't get high marks, scoring only 40% compared to the highest performers: the UK (88%), France, South Africa (87%), New Zealand (86%) and the US (82%) (See full rankings).
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Thailand given low marks for budget transparency and follow-up, despite Budget Bureau's best efforts.By Parista Yuthamanop
29/06/2009
The likelihood of the government incurring massive debt with its economic stimulus over the next few years has accentuated the importance of easy access to data on its spending.
The public can currently use the Budget Bureau's website, http://www.bb.go.th, to find information on strategy, budget allocation, enacted budget, progress of budget distribution, emergency and tied-over budgets, and parliamentary budgetary review.
But Thailand's performance is ranked as poor by the Open Budget Index in 2008, which focuses on the accessibility of data to laypeople, based on questionnaires. The survey by the US-based International Budget Partnership, a research house specialising in fiscal policy, gave Thailand only 40%.
This compares poorly with the best performers - the United Kingdom (88%), France and South Africa (87%), New Zealand (86%) and the United States (82%).
The report said that the budget proposal gives the public a "fairly comprehensive" picture of the government's plan for taxing and spending for the coming year.
"The proposal should be available to the public and the legislature prior to being finalised, at least three months before the start of the budget year to allow sufficient review and public debate," it said.
But the lack of mid-year and year-end reports has created difficulties in tracking how the budget is being spent during the year. This undermines public accountability, the report said.
But Siwat Luangsomboon, a senior economist at the Fiscal Policy Office, said authorities had performed well in a Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability survey by the International Monetary Fund, which measured broader budgeting processes, ranging from comprehensiveness of spending types and transparency to fiscal risk management.
The Finance Ministry couldn't publish year-end and audit reports of the budget because of discrepancies between data on the government's electronic platform and the figures used by the Office of the Auditor General. The government has published a "budget in brief" on its website and as a booklet to make it easy for the public to understand, he said.
The ministry does not submit a mid-year report to parliament because of budget relocations between departments of government agencies.
"Nonetheless, the constitution calls for the government to inform the public every six months of transfers of budgets between agencies or for other purposes, by the end of the year," said Mr Siwat.
Vorapol Socatiyanurak, vice chairman for the Economic and Social Advisory Council, said the government should set up a committee comprising representatives of different social segments to monitor whether the budget is used properly over the next few years.
Dr Vorapol said the government's 800-billion-baht borrowing plan would push fiscal stability to the limit as it raised public debt to 60% from 40% of gross domestic product. "Thailand's tax revenue stands at 18% of GDP, much lower than Japan, which has a high percentage of public debt. The government cannot be careless with spending. Importantly, investment must give reasonable returns," he said.
"The fact that private and state enterprises operate with relatively poor competitiveness constrains fiscal revenue."
Meanwhile, Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, the owner of Economic Development Consulting Group, said fiscal data were comprehensively available, but scattered among different agencies.
He said the public could gauge whether the stimulus package is beneficial by looking at whether debt per GDP decreases.
transparent
(adjective) -
visible, can be seen by the public, not hidden
transparency (noun) - a condition or state of being visible
marks - grades
follow-up - action that continues and supports what was started earlier (example: to make a sale one must follow-up all initial contacts)
likelihood - the possibility that something will happen
incurring massive debt - borrowing very large amounts of money that you must pay back
economic stimulus - government spending and tax cuts to get the economy growing again
accentuated the importance of - emphasized the importance of
budget allocation - the amount of the government budget given to some activity
enacted budget - the budget that has been made into law (by parliament)
progress - work that has been completed towards a goal
progress of budget distribution - how much of the budget has been given to the government agencies and departments that will use it
emergency budgets - money that is made available for use in an emergency situation
tied-over budgets -
parliamentary budgetary review - when members of parliament go over and check what government money will be spent for and either agree or disagree
performance - how successful someone is in doing some task
US-based International Budget Partnership - an NGO that collaborates "with civil society organizations in developing countries to analyze, monitor, and influence government budget processes, institutions, and outcomes. The aim of the Partnership is to make budget systems more responsive to the needs of poor and low-income people in society and, accordingly, to make these systems more transparent and accountable to the public." (See website)
Open Budget Initiative - a global program to "promote public access to budget information and the adoption of accountable budget systems, includes a survey that "evaluates whether governments give the public access to budget information and opportunities to participate in the budget process at the national level."(See website)
Open Budget Index - a ranking of countries around the world by transparency of government budget and spending (See ranking)
laypeople - ordinary people, not specialists or experts
accessibility of data to laypeople - whether ordinary people can get the data or learn about it easily
questionnaires - a written list of questions that many people answer to provide data for a survey or study
fiscal policy - government spending and taxation policy แผนงบประมาณรายปี
budget proposal - giving a plan future spending
gives a fairly comprehensive picture of - describes all parts and aspects
allow sufficient review and public debate, available to the public and the legislature prior to being finalised - give the public the budget and spending information and let them debate about changes
tracking - following
tracking how the budget is being spent - following how government agencies are spending the money budgeted for them
undermines - weakens
undermines public accountability - weakens the ability of the public and taxpayers to find out what is being done with their money
comprehensiveness - covers all details of a subject or topic
transparency - visible, can be seen by the public, not hidden
fiscal risk management - making sure that the government is always able to pay for the things it needs to pay for (planning for low revenue years, making sure that money borrowed does not increase the interest rate paid causing the debt to balloon)
audit - examine officially to make sure that money is being used and recorded correctly
auditor - an accountant who audits the accounting records of a company or government
discrepancies - things that should be the same but are not the same
a booklet - a small book
budget relocations - moving money from use to another use in the budget
transfers - moving something from one place to another place
V comprising X, Y, and Z - V has X, Y, Z as members or parts
social segments - different parts of society (example: poorer rural dwellers, richer urban dwellers)
monitor - regularly check an ongoing activity or process (to check for problems or collect information)
push fiscal stability to the limit - borrow the greatest amount that you can, before having problems paying it back
public debt - money borrowed by the government
careless - not careful so make mistakes
reasonable returns - profits that are fair and match expectations, not excessive
state enterprises - companies owned by the government such as the electricity or railway companies
constrains - limits
state enterprises...relatively poor competitiveness constrains fiscal revenue - companies owned by the state cannot compete very well and have low profits
scattered - spread over many different places
gauge - measure
transparency (noun) - a condition or state of being visible
marks - grades
follow-up - action that continues and supports what was started earlier (example: to make a sale one must follow-up all initial contacts)
likelihood - the possibility that something will happen
incurring massive debt - borrowing very large amounts of money that you must pay back
economic stimulus - government spending and tax cuts to get the economy growing again
accentuated the importance of - emphasized the importance of
budget allocation - the amount of the government budget given to some activity
enacted budget - the budget that has been made into law (by parliament)
progress - work that has been completed towards a goal
progress of budget distribution - how much of the budget has been given to the government agencies and departments that will use it
emergency budgets - money that is made available for use in an emergency situation
tied-over budgets -
parliamentary budgetary review - when members of parliament go over and check what government money will be spent for and either agree or disagree
performance - how successful someone is in doing some task
US-based International Budget Partnership - an NGO that collaborates "with civil society organizations in developing countries to analyze, monitor, and influence government budget processes, institutions, and outcomes. The aim of the Partnership is to make budget systems more responsive to the needs of poor and low-income people in society and, accordingly, to make these systems more transparent and accountable to the public." (See website)
Open Budget Initiative - a global program to "promote public access to budget information and the adoption of accountable budget systems, includes a survey that "evaluates whether governments give the public access to budget information and opportunities to participate in the budget process at the national level."(See website)
Open Budget Index - a ranking of countries around the world by transparency of government budget and spending (See ranking)
laypeople - ordinary people, not specialists or experts
accessibility of data to laypeople - whether ordinary people can get the data or learn about it easily
questionnaires - a written list of questions that many people answer to provide data for a survey or study
fiscal policy - government spending and taxation policy แผนงบประมาณรายปี
budget proposal - giving a plan future spending
gives a fairly comprehensive picture of - describes all parts and aspects
allow sufficient review and public debate, available to the public and the legislature prior to being finalised - give the public the budget and spending information and let them debate about changes
tracking - following
tracking how the budget is being spent - following how government agencies are spending the money budgeted for them
undermines - weakens
undermines public accountability - weakens the ability of the public and taxpayers to find out what is being done with their money
comprehensiveness - covers all details of a subject or topic
transparency - visible, can be seen by the public, not hidden
fiscal risk management - making sure that the government is always able to pay for the things it needs to pay for (planning for low revenue years, making sure that money borrowed does not increase the interest rate paid causing the debt to balloon)
audit - examine officially to make sure that money is being used and recorded correctly
auditor - an accountant who audits the accounting records of a company or government
discrepancies - things that should be the same but are not the same
a booklet - a small book
budget relocations - moving money from use to another use in the budget
transfers - moving something from one place to another place
V comprising X, Y, and Z - V has X, Y, Z as members or parts
social segments - different parts of society (example: poorer rural dwellers, richer urban dwellers)
monitor - regularly check an ongoing activity or process (to check for problems or collect information)
push fiscal stability to the limit - borrow the greatest amount that you can, before having problems paying it back
public debt - money borrowed by the government
careless - not careful so make mistakes
reasonable returns - profits that are fair and match expectations, not excessive
state enterprises - companies owned by the government such as the electricity or railway companies
constrains - limits
state enterprises...relatively poor competitiveness constrains fiscal revenue - companies owned by the state cannot compete very well and have low profits
scattered - spread over many different places
gauge - measure
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? Thailand given low marks for budget transparency and follow-up, despite Budget Bureau's best efforts, Parista Yuthamanop, 29/06/2009, link)
