Governance: Public finance data¶
To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance provide a basis for collecting and publishing data on public finances? (E.g., government budgets, government spending, debt, and borrowing.)
Definitions and Identification
Most countries have a legal framework to guide public financial management (PFM); this framework will set how income, debt, budget, spending, and other public finance information, such as budgetary performance indicators or measurements, should be collected, managed, and reported.
This indicator asks whether your country's framework explicitly addresses the collection and publication of structured data, and whether or not it supports provision of structured data from summary reports and/or detailed transactions.
Summary reports, also called accounting reports, provide an overview of the amounts budgeted or spent against a number of categories. They are often presented as relatively short tables or cross-tabulations. Summary reports generally do not contain details of individual line items, specific projects, or items of expenditure covered by a budget category.
Rules or guidance that support the provision of structured summary data may, for example, set out a requirement to use a particular reporting system, or establish digital templates for reporting.
Transactional data provides line-by-line information on budget allocations or spending, either at the level of granular categories (e.g., disaggregated to the level of staff spending in a particular school), or individual transactions (e.g., the payment to a particular building contractor for work on the school).
Rules or guidance that support the provision of structured transaction data may, for example, require collection and publication of detailed spend records, or may provide the basis for budget transparency at a disaggregated level. When transactional data is provided, it may be necessary for governments to make provisions to redact certain private information, such as details of payments to individuals.
Further, this indicator examines whether your country’s framework addresses the collection of publication of structured data across key points in the budget cycle (e.g., executive budget proposal, approved or enacted budget, in-year reports, year-end reports):
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In the executive budget proposal, the government lays out detailed estimates for government revenue, expenditure, and debt for the coming year; this usually also includes historical budget data, macroeconomic assumptions, and policy goals;
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The approved or enacted budget is the budget formally agreed upon by the appropriate legislative process in the country; in some countries this may be significantly different from the executive budget proposal;
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In-year reports, issued during the budget year, show the government’s progress in implementing the enacted budget;
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Year-end reports document the government’s revenue collections, debt, and administrative expenditures for the year; some countries issue this as a consolidated document; in some countries administrative units issue them individually
(Source: International Budget Partnership 2021).
Note: This indicator is not intended to assess the quality of public financial management governance, only whether governance frameworks for public financial management support the provision of structured data.
Examples:
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In Korea, Article 9 of the National Finance Act (English version) requires the publication of key financial information—including the national budget, state bonds, and consolidated fiscal balance—in an accessible manner at least once a year. Article 5 of the Act’s Enforcement Decree (English) reinforces this requirement, ensuring every central agency must regularly and in a timely manner—ideally daily—publish the status of its revenue and expenditure budget on its website, and similarly every fund-managing entity must publish the current status of its fund.
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Brazil, in 2009, amended its Fiscal Responsibility Law to mandate real-time publication of detailed budgetary and financial execution information for the union, states, federal district, and municipalities.
This indicator should be answered in conjunction with the public finance availability indicator, as in some cases, the information surrounding available data may provide evidence concerning the framework under which data is produced and provided.
Starting points
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Sources:
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Look at the latest Open Budget Survey report and Questionnaire for this country and check question "GQ-2" to identify the relevant legal frameworks; search for discussions of data and reporting or transparency requirements.
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Check for recent Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessments for this country and look in reports for information related to the legal framework, and to the use of Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (Search: IFMIS or FMIS).
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Search:
- Public finance open data + [country], or public finance data + [country].
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Consult:
- Public spending experts in the country.
What to look for?
Look for evidence that can answer the following questions:
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Does the framework require that both summary reports and more granular transaction-level reports be provided as structured data?
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What points of the budget cycle does the framework cover? For example, does it cover the executive budget proposal, approved or enacted budget, in-year reports, and year-end reports?
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Does the framework seek to ensure data quality? For example, by requiring this information to be verified in some way and empowering an agency or official to ensure accurate and timely data?
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What kinds of provisions does the framework include for publishing the information as open data? For regularly updating the data?
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What agencies does this framework cover? Does it cover the entire general government or public sector, or only part?
Show/hide supporting questions
Existence
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Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring collection of this information in any form?
- No.
- They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented.
Supporting questions: Please provide brief details.If the framework exists only in draft form, please provide the date of any relevant drafts.Please provide a URL(s) for where evidence can be found.
- They exist and are operational.
Supporting questions: Please provide brief details.Please provide a URL(s) for where evidence can be found.
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Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring publication of this information in any form?
- No.
- They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented.
Supporting questions: Please provide brief details.If the framework exists only in draft form, please provide the date of any relevant drafts.Please provide a URL(s) for where evidence can be found.
- They exist and are operational.
Supporting questions: Please provide brief details.Please provide a URL(s) for where evidence can be found.
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Extent of existence:
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How comprehensive, in terms of jurisdiction, is the coverage of the framework assessed for this question? (The framework covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such a framework, or with a framework of a lesser quality., The framework covers one or more localities and is representative of the kind of frameworks that can be found for all, or most, localities., The framework provides national coverage.)
Supporting questions (conditional)
If The framework covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such a framework, or with a framework of a lesser quality. or The framework covers one or more localities and is representative of the kind of frameworks that can be found for all, or most, localities.: Which locality or localities does this framework cover?
If The framework covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such a framework, or with a framework of a lesser quality. or The framework covers one or more localities and is representative of the kind of frameworks that can be found for all, or most, localities.: Please explain your response.
If The framework covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such a framework, or with a framework of a lesser quality. or The framework covers one or more localities and is representative of the kind of frameworks that can be found for all, or most, localities.: Please provide supporting URL(s) as necessary.
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How comprehensive is the coverage of the framework assessed for this indicator? (The framework only applies in a narrow set of situations or only covers a very limited number of agencies., The framework covers one or more agencies, but there are similar frameworks that apply to many other agencies. , The framework covers all or most of the public sector. )
Supporting questions (conditional)
If The framework only applies in a narrow set of situations or only covers a very limited number of agencies.: When/to which agency does this framework apply?
If The framework covers one or more agencies, but there are similar frameworks that apply to many other agencies. : To which agency or agencies does this framework apply?
If The framework covers all or most of the public sector. : Are there any notable exceptions? (E.g., defense sector.)
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Existence summary:
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Please summarize your answers to the preceding existence sub-questions, including the extent of existence. [Open Text] Drawing on the research you have conducted and the evidence you have gathered for this section, describe what you have found (or not found) when answering the existence sub-questions for this indicator.
Supporting questions
Please provide the URL(s) for the evidence that supports the summary provided.
Elements
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Provisions for definitions, kinds, and fields:
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Summary reports must be provided as structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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Expenditure information at the most disaggregated level of the economic classification must be provided as structured data. (No, Partially, Yes) Economic classification identifies the type of expenditure incurred (e.g., salaries, goods and services, capital spending); in some countries this is called "transactional" data. Answer “Yes” if there are only limited exceptions (e.g., for privacy reasons); answer “Partially” if there are significant exceptions (e.g., a high threshold such that many lower value expenditures are not collected/published).
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework requires executive budget proposal information to be provided as structured data. (No, Partially, Yes) Answer “Partially” if expenditures are covered, but not income, debt, or performance information.
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework requires the approved or enacted budget to be provided as structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework requires in-year reports as structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework requires year-end reports as structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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Provisions for data quality:
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The framework empowers an agency or official to ensure the accurate and timely collection and publication of required data. (No, Partially, Yes) For example, a framework might establish or resource offices for data verification, grant an agency sanction powers for noncompliance, etc.
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework requires a verification process. (No, Partially, Yes) There are many different kinds of verification processes. Some processes are automated, some involve direct human review, some combine the two. For example, in some cases, data is required from multiple parties engaged in an activity and that data is then cross-verified automatically. In others, a dedicated agency or official has the authority to conduct audits, engaging with other agencies or external parties to verify information received.
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially or Yes: Please briefly explain the verification process used.
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response, including which parts of the collected data the framework requires to be verified and which parts it does not.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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Provisions for collection and access:
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The framework supports the digital collection of data. (No, Partially, Yes) For example, entities submitting information may be required to use digital forms.
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Does the framework support the collection of structured data? Please explain your response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework requires that data is regularly updated. (No, Partially, Yes) For example, a framework may establish a specific collection and publication schedule relevant to its intended use.
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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The framework discusses public access to the data. (No, Partially, Yes)
Supporting questions (conditional)
If Partially: Please explain your “Partially” response.
If Partially or Yes: Does the framework support the publication of open data? Please explain your response.
If Partially or Yes: Please indicate which section of the framework refers to this issue.
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Elements summary:
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Please summarize your answers to the preceding element sub-questions. [Open Text] Drawing on the research you have conducted and the evidence you have gathered for this section, describe what you have found (or not found) when answering the element sub-questions for this indicator.
Supporting questions
Please provide the URL(s) for the evidence that supports the summary provided.
Principles of fiscal transparency requiring governments to publish information on planned and executed budgets and spending are well established: evidenced in the IMF's Fiscal Transparency Guide (2007), OECD Budget Transparency Toolkit (2017), IMF Fiscal Transparency Handbook (2018) and the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) diagnostics. In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the GIFT High-Level Principles on Fiscal Transparency (UNGA Resolution 67/218).
Recent guides on fiscal transparency have incorporated a recognition of the importance of providing structured and open data, drawing in particular on the G20 Anti-Corruption Open Data Principles. The long-established Open Budget Survey incorporates questions on the legal framework for publication of budget and spending information and questions on the availability of machine-readable data, but does not assess whether laws, rules, and guidance explicitly support the production of structured data on budgets and spending.