Each country note has the following structure: Section 1 gives a brief overview of the main economic developments in recent years in the relevant country including real GDP, fiscal balance and gross debt figures. This presentation is mainly based on the “OECD Economic Outlook No. 88”, OECD...

This chapter discusses OECD member countries’ consolidation plans as of November/December 2010. The time frame for the plans ranges from 2009 to 2015. The chapter analyses current fiscal positions and announced fiscal strategies, consolidation plans, and the expenditure and revenue measures...

Public finance specialists and constitutional theorists are very reluctant to establish legal norms for budget systems. International organisations have published guidelines for desirable features of budgetary transparency. Except for external audit standards, international bodies have not...

This paper by the Congressional Budget Office examines two reports on fiscal policy in the United States: the budget and the government’s financial statements. The reports differ in concept and scope. Neither provides all of the relevant information about federal finances, but together they...

The following five articles contain reports on national practices in five Member countries for reallocating budgetary resources. The five countries are Finland, Germany, Korea, Switzerland and the United States. The reports were presented at a special OECD meeting in the year 2000 where senior...

Switzerland’s public accounting system has been completely overhauled. The New Accounting Model for the Confederation was used for the first time to prepare the 2007 budget and the 2008-10 financial plan. This article examines the fundamental new directions of financial management in Switzerland.

Canada has a Westminster model of government and therefore does not highlight the legal basis for annual budget processes. A combination of laws, regulations and conventions govern budget preparation, adoption and budget reporting to Parliament. Although the principle of the supremacy of...

This chapter compares the extent to which law is used to specify budget players and processes, with a particular focus on 13 OECD countries. Although budget system laws serve differing purposes, new budget-related laws are often adopted to introduce budget reforms. Differences in the laws...

The Best Practices are designed as a reference tool for Member and non-member countries to use in order to increase the degree of budget transparency in their respective countries. The Best Practices are organised around specific reports for presentational reasons only. It is recognised that...

The following series of tables contain information on parliamentary budget procedures in OECD Member countries. They were compiled from information submitted by Member countries to the OECD Secretariat. Note that per cent totals at the bottom of each table may not add up to 100% due to rounding,...