Thailand's fiscal stimulus II
Transparency by public internet monitoring
By Jon Fernquest 
Thailand's
government is putting
into place
a state of
the art web-based system to monitor government expenditure.The details of fiscal stimulus stage II will be available to the public for scrutiny.
Web-based systems for monitoring government spending are already in operation in the US (Read announcement and O'Reilly article and datavisualization.ch).
Web-based public monitoring with dashboards that show the current progress of spending programmes coupled with a management approach of "radical transparency" both have great potential for eliminating corruption and misuse of government funds:
Radical
transparency is a management approach in which (ideally) all decision
making is carried out publicly.
Draft documents, arguments for and against a proposal, the decisions about the decision making process itself, and final decisions are all publicly accessible and remain publicly archived.
Exceptions to full transparency typically include data related to personal privacy, security, and passwords or keys necessary for access required to carry out publicly negotiated decisions. Technical actions perceived to be controversial or political are considered to lack legitimacy until a clear, radically transparent decision has been made concerning them (Source: Wikipedia)
Draft documents, arguments for and against a proposal, the decisions about the decision making process itself, and final decisions are all publicly accessible and remain publicly archived.
Exceptions to full transparency typically include data related to personal privacy, security, and passwords or keys necessary for access required to carry out publicly negotiated decisions. Technical actions perceived to be controversial or political are considered to lack legitimacy until a clear, radically transparent decision has been made concerning them (Source: Wikipedia)
If the Bangkok city bus programme had "radically transparency" perhaps opposition would not have been so great and doubts about the project would have been cleared away early on. As it stands, the city bus project seems to be in perpetual limbo.
Since the global economy is currently tracking the Great Depression, government spending to offset the decline in private expenditure may be necessary for several months or years. During Japan's "lost decade" the Japanese government kept the economy going and prevented a deflationary spiral by a massive fiscal stimulus programme.
Today's article follows the vocabulary:
disburse - to pay
money from a special purpose fund
disbursement - paying money to people or departments from a large fund
monitoring - watching and checking a process over a period of time, to make sure that it is successful and there are no problems
monitor disbursements - check government money that is being given out, check who is receiving it
public monitoring - when everyone in the country can see the details if they want
progress - when a project moves towards successful completion
monitor progress - checking a project continuously to make sure it completes successfully
scrutiny - careful examination of something
open to scrutiny - able to to be examined in detail by the public
stimulus, fiscal stimulus - when the government spends money or cuts taxes to get the economy moving again and growing
massive fiscal stimulus - very large amounts of fiscal stimulus
putting into place - getting a system started and working or operational
state of the art - using the latest technologies
expenditure - spending money
dashboards, software dashboards - computer screens that display the current state of something (look like the dashboards or control panel of a car)
coupled with - together with, combined with
radical - new and very different
radical transparency - a new and much greater transparency
full transparency - can see everything, nothing hidden
personal privacy - when the details of your life remain hidden to the public, only you and your family know
security - safety, keeping something or some people safe
carry out - do
publicly negotiated decisions - decisions in which public opinion played a role
perceived to be Y - people see it as being Y
controversial - causing argument, disagreement, and debate
legitimacy - being acceptable, morally right and reasonable, being legal
lack legitimacy - not being morally acceptable or legal
perpetual - never ending
in limbo - a state that is still changing, not finished yet (have to wait and find out what happens next)
X tracking Y - X is following the same pattern as Y
Japan's lost decade - the 1990s and 2000s, when Japan had very little economic growth
deflationary spiral - when prices in an economy start declining, people lose money when they sell their assets and cannot pay back their debt (gets worse and worse)
disbursement - paying money to people or departments from a large fund
monitoring - watching and checking a process over a period of time, to make sure that it is successful and there are no problems
monitor disbursements - check government money that is being given out, check who is receiving it
public monitoring - when everyone in the country can see the details if they want
progress - when a project moves towards successful completion
monitor progress - checking a project continuously to make sure it completes successfully
scrutiny - careful examination of something
open to scrutiny - able to to be examined in detail by the public
stimulus, fiscal stimulus - when the government spends money or cuts taxes to get the economy moving again and growing
massive fiscal stimulus - very large amounts of fiscal stimulus
putting into place - getting a system started and working or operational
state of the art - using the latest technologies
expenditure - spending money
dashboards, software dashboards - computer screens that display the current state of something (look like the dashboards or control panel of a car)
coupled with - together with, combined with
radical - new and very different
radical transparency - a new and much greater transparency
full transparency - can see everything, nothing hidden
personal privacy - when the details of your life remain hidden to the public, only you and your family know
security - safety, keeping something or some people safe
carry out - do
publicly negotiated decisions - decisions in which public opinion played a role
perceived to be Y - people see it as being Y
controversial - causing argument, disagreement, and debate
legitimacy - being acceptable, morally right and reasonable, being legal
lack legitimacy - not being morally acceptable or legal
perpetual - never ending
in limbo - a state that is still changing, not finished yet (have to wait and find out what happens next)
X tracking Y - X is following the same pattern as Y
Japan's lost decade - the 1990s and 2000s, when Japan had very little economic growth
deflationary spiral - when prices in an economy start declining, people lose money when they sell their assets and cannot pay back their debt (gets worse and worse)
INFRASTRUCTURE
Investment programme open to scrutiny online
By WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI13/07/2009
The public can monitor disbursements and progress of the 1.43-trillion-baht investment programme directly from the internet, says Chakrit Parapuntakul, deputy director-general of the Public Debt Management Office.
The programme will feature hundreds of billions of baht in new investments in logistics, social services, water management and other infrastructure over the next four years.
Projects are expected to number in the thousands, ranging from new roads to small irrigation projects to community hospital renovations.
To ensure transparency and accountability, the Finance Ministry will ensure spending data for each project are made available to the public through its Project Financial Monitoring System, said Mr Chakrit.
The system, expected to be launched next month, will be the country's first database to comprehensively monitor spending and budget disbursement on individual projects.
Users can track the progress of each project from initial committee screening to cabinet vetting, as well as view spending and procurement information.
The private sector will play a key role in implementing new infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships, said Mr Chakrit.
The government is in the process of reforming the 1992 joint public-private investment law that currently governs private sector contracts with the state, with the aim of increasing flexibility and reducing bureaucracy to assist the new infrastructure programme.
The Finance Ministry will hold a public hearing on the legal reforms on July 15.
The 1.43-trillion-baht infrastructure programme is being portrayed by the government as a massive stimulus aimed at jump-starting investment and economic growth while upgrading economic competitiveness over the medium term.
The ministry estimates that the programme could increase economic growth by some 1.3 percentage points, with minimal impact on the country's current account.
But new borrowing to finance the investments will push public debt to 60.8% of gross domestic product by 2013, up from 40% now. Debt is projected to fall back to 46.9% by 2018, based on assumptions that economic growth returns to a base rate of 5.5% per year by 2012 and the government budget returns to a surplus position by 2014.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, INFRASTRUCTURE: Investment programme open to scrutiny online, WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI, 13/07/2009, link)
logistics - the
transportation and storage in order to supply materials within an
organisation
social services - a government provided service for people who have problems
renovations - repairs and redecoratation of an old building to improve condition of building
transparency - being visible to the public, with nothing hidden or secret
accountability - being required to explain why all your decisions or actions were made
Project Financial Monitoring System - a web-based computer system where the public can watch how government money is being budgeted and spent
comprehensively - covers all possible parts and aspects
budget disbursement - paying money to government departments from the annual budget
screen - to check something to see if something is acceptable
initial committee screening - the first time that the committee did a check
vet - screen, check and examine carefully to make sure that it is acceptable
the cabinet - the advisors to the Prime Minister who oversee ministries in the government
cabinet vetting - when the cabinet checks projects carefully for acceptability
procurement - buying the supplies and goods that a company needs (equipment, raw materials)
implement a plan - to actually do the things in a plan
play a key role in implementing - be one of the important people who helpscarry out a plan
public-private partnerships - when the government and privately owned companies invest in projects and work together
with the aim of - with the goal of
1992 joint public-private investment law - Thailand's law on public-private partnerships
a hearing - an official meeting which presents the facts of some issue before a decision is made
a public hearing - a hearing that is open to the public, the public can listen and respond
hold a public hearing - have a public hearing
portrayed as... - described as...
aimed at - have the goal of
jump-start - to start something again after it has failed (to start a car using the battery of another car)
jump-starting investment and economic growth - to get investment and growth started again in an economy after it has failed
upgrade - improve
the medium-term - a period of time that is 2-10 years into the future (See investorwords.com)
upgrading economic competitiveness over the medium term - improving how well country's economy in world markets compared to other countries
with minimal impact on - only has a small effect on
current account - the foreign trade balance of a country: exports - imports (roughly)
public debt - government debt, money that the government has borrowed
a surplus position, a government budget surplus - when the government receives in taxes more than it spends (no need to borrow money)
a government budget deficit - when the government receives in taxes less than it spends (need to borrow money to finance this "deficit")
social services - a government provided service for people who have problems
renovations - repairs and redecoratation of an old building to improve condition of building
transparency - being visible to the public, with nothing hidden or secret
accountability - being required to explain why all your decisions or actions were made
Project Financial Monitoring System - a web-based computer system where the public can watch how government money is being budgeted and spent
comprehensively - covers all possible parts and aspects
budget disbursement - paying money to government departments from the annual budget
screen - to check something to see if something is acceptable
initial committee screening - the first time that the committee did a check
vet - screen, check and examine carefully to make sure that it is acceptable
the cabinet - the advisors to the Prime Minister who oversee ministries in the government
cabinet vetting - when the cabinet checks projects carefully for acceptability
procurement - buying the supplies and goods that a company needs (equipment, raw materials)
implement a plan - to actually do the things in a plan
play a key role in implementing - be one of the important people who helpscarry out a plan
public-private partnerships - when the government and privately owned companies invest in projects and work together
with the aim of - with the goal of
1992 joint public-private investment law - Thailand's law on public-private partnerships
a hearing - an official meeting which presents the facts of some issue before a decision is made
a public hearing - a hearing that is open to the public, the public can listen and respond
hold a public hearing - have a public hearing
portrayed as... - described as...
aimed at - have the goal of
jump-start - to start something again after it has failed (to start a car using the battery of another car)
jump-starting investment and economic growth - to get investment and growth started again in an economy after it has failed
upgrade - improve
the medium-term - a period of time that is 2-10 years into the future (See investorwords.com)
upgrading economic competitiveness over the medium term - improving how well country's economy in world markets compared to other countries
with minimal impact on - only has a small effect on
current account - the foreign trade balance of a country: exports - imports (roughly)
public debt - government debt, money that the government has borrowed
a surplus position, a government budget surplus - when the government receives in taxes more than it spends (no need to borrow money)
a government budget deficit - when the government receives in taxes less than it spends (need to borrow money to finance this "deficit")
