Budgetary Management and Control

In all OECD countries, central budgetary authorities (CBAs) have developed tools and approaches to make their budget execution robust and flexible – that is addressing the demands of legislative control while providing managerial authorities greater agency to address unanticipated developments. Survey results show that OECD countries have a wide range of systems, instruments, and processes that allows for flexibility in budget execution, including authorisations for line ministries and agencies to realise re-allocation of funds and carry-overs. As greater flexibility is provided in budget execution, requirements for in-year and year-end reports have become sounder and constitute one of the core mechanisms through which parliaments can hold governments accountable for their decisions made during budget execution. In parallel, external audit, an important safeguard for of integrity in government reporting has been reinforced in most OECD countries.This chapter takes a special focus on fiscal risks by taking stock of progress achieved by OECD countries in areas of identifying fiscal risks, their disclosure and analysis, and mitigation measures taken through risk management. Survey results show that public reporting on these risks is now common practice, although a great variety of approaches exists in other areas such as the definition of risks, the depth and breadth of the information published and mitigation approaches.