Glossary

Administrative burden The Index for Public Integrity considers administrative burden a measures of the extent of domestic bureaucratic regulations. The component is constructed based on the average numbers of procedures and time it takes to start a business and pay corporate taxes (IPI 2016).

Budgetary Governance “Budgetary governance” refers to the processes, laws, structures and institutions in place for ensuring that the budgeting system meets its objectives in an effective, sustainable and enduring manner (OECD, 2015)

Budget Circular A budget circular is a document/memorandum issued by the central budget authority to guide line ministries/agencies in the formulation of their initial budget proposals/budget estimates. A budget circular, for instance, may contain information or guidance on automatic productivity cuts, medium-term or annual expenditure ceilings, etc. (OECD 2015)

Carry over funds (Restos a pagar) Brazil is one of the only countries in Latin America which allows line ministries to carry over unused funds without thresholds for both operational and investment expenditure (OECD 2014)

Central Budget Authority “Central Budget Authority” refers to the ministry, institution or department of the executive (or combination of such bodies) that is or are responsible for the preparation of the annual public budget and its associated multi-annual processes.

Centre of Government The Centre of Government (CoG) is the administrative structure that serves the Executive (President or Prime Minister, and the Cabinet collectively). Often the Centre is made up of more than one unit, fulfilling different functions. For the purposes of this report, the CoG includes other core institutions at the “Centre” that directly support whole-of-government functioning, and usually exercise some oversight of ministries’ activities (OECD, 2015).

Debt rules Debt rules limit the amount of government debt that can be accumulated and can be expressed in nominal terms as a debt-to-GDP ratio or as an explicit reduction of the debt-to-GDP ratio

Expenditure rules Expenditure rules limit the amount of government spending and can be expressed in nominal or real terms as limits on spending levels or expenditure growth, or as an expenditure-to-GDP ratio

External audit of the consolidated year-end government report (CPR) This report is a core element of the federal government’s financial reporting framework, which aims to support fiscal sustainability, achieve cost-effective service delivery and enhance fiscal legitimacy. The PCPR contains information on: the federal government’s financial performance; compliance with budgetary laws; non-financial information about service delivery; and information about key factors underlying financial and non-financial performance. The audit of the report is TCU’s greatest means for assessing adherence to the budget (OECD 2013).

External Control Unit External Control Units refer to the units that conduct ex post audit assignments.

Fiscal Rules A permanent constraint on fiscal policy expressed in terms of a summary indicator of fiscal performance (Kopits and Symansky, 1998)

Good Governance Public governance is the institutional arrangements and processes which develop, implement and deliver policies, programmes and services to benefit citizens and society. Good governance then is the optimisation of those processes and institutional arrangements to maximise benefits to society. It is the assurance that the mechanisms driving the policy cycle in formulation, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation are operating effectively, efficiently and economically and with integrity

Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI) A unit typically referred to as fiscal councils, although the definition sometimes also includes Parliamentary Budget Offices. The role, structure and funding model of these bodies vary considerably across countries.

Long-term Fiscal Responsibility The ability of governments to maintain public finances at a credible and serviceable position over the long run, in light of the prevailing mix of spending and revenue policies.

Medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) Medium-term expenditure fiscal frameworks (MTFFs) and expenditure frameworks (MTEFs) strengthen the ability to plan and enforce a sustainable fiscal path that forces stakeholders to deal with the medium-term perspective of budgeting and budgetary policies rather than adopt an exclusively year-by-year approach. MTEFs typically cover a period of three to four years.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) M&E is the systematic collection of evidence on the outcomes of policies and programmes in order to judge their relevance, performance and potential alternatives.1 M&E a management tool for making informed choices about current and future policies and programmes. Monitoring can be seen as systematic, ongoing collection of data on specified indicators that provide management, and other stakeholders, with an idea on progress towards objectives. Evaluation is a systematic and objective assessment of an on-going or completed project, programme or policy, including its design, implementation and results.

Operational audit Performance audit

Performance Budgeting Various approaches which reflect governments’ efforts to focus on the results achieved with the appropriations allocated.

Policy Coherence Government-wide policy coherence is the quality of having unified and consistent public policies and programmes.

Priority spending In accordance with the constitution of 1988, roughly 35% of the budget is ‘priority spending,’ which is set by the LDO and are exempt from cuts (OECD 2003)

Sound fiscal policy “Sound fiscal policy” is one which avoids the build-up of large, unsustainable debts, and which uses favourable economic times to build up resilience and buffers against more difficult times, so that the needs of citizens and stakeholders can be addressed in an effective and enduring manner.

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals are a UN Initiative. The Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), officially known as Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a set of seventeen aspirational «Global Goals» with 169 targets between them

Three lines of assurance model of internal control Three lines of assurance model for internal control consist of a line at the operational level, a second independent from delivery units, as well as an independent internal audit function (OECD 2013)

Note

← 1. Noting Law 11,784, this report refers only to the performance evaluation of the entities of public administration, not to the evaluation of public servants.