Organization and Reporting of Public Financial Accounts: Insights and Policy Implications from the Singapore Budget

Abstract

This paper analyses the Singapore government budget's organization and reporting structure, and draws lessons and policy implications for improving public financial management practices. The paper finds that Singapore's fiscal marksmanship record has been poor with consistent underestimates of revenue and overestimates of expenditure. Second, subtle divergences from international reporting standards limit the information available and constrain the budget's analytical usefulness in international comparisons. Third, current reporting conventions of the budget fail to provide an adequate representation of the government's fiscal position. Fourth, revised estimates of budgetary balances in line with international reporting standards show a considerable increase in the fiscal space available. The policy implications of these findings are discussed, as well as some reporting changes which can help improve the fiscal marksmanship record, increase public sector transparency and accountability, and facilitate better quality discourse among all stakeholders on public financial management.

Design, reporting, and broader impact: COVID-19 budgeting in Singapore

“…Details and idiosyncrasies of the Singapore budget are well-discussed in the literature, for example, Bl€ ondal (2006); Kwan, Bali, and Asher (2016). The following recurring practices are directly relevant here: (i) the budget is reported in cash terms but accrual accounting is practiced for decision-making; and (ii) divergence in the treatment of land rents, investment income, budgetary allocations to trust funds, and provisions for loans and guarantees from international reporting standardsthe GFSM in this case.…”

“…However, caution needs to be exercised when doing so as the prior literature on Singapore's budgetary reporting. For example, Kwan, Bali, and Asher (2016), report subtle differences in individual reporting practices against international reporting standards like the IMF's Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM). These serve to misrepresent the fiscal position and lead to erroneous inferences about the budget's wider impact.…”

An Evolutionary Transparency Approach to Public Accountability

“…-Offering evidence of how to provide accountability for certain contexts, especially due to the many solutions proposed in the previous period (Pallot, 2001;Posnen, 2006;Bello, 2013;Fowler & Coredry, 2015;Mutiganda, 2013;Pollanen, 2015;Haraldsson, 2016;Kwan et al, 2016). -Studying the existing frameworks and proposing improvements (Kassel, 2008;Kulshreshtha, 2008;Barrett, 2014;Palyi, 2015).…”