Reclassification of government expenditures and receipts in selected countries

Abstract

This document attempts to make generally available the experience of countries engaged in economic classifications of government transactions and in attempts to find a proper basis for accounting of their trading and production activities. Government transactions play an increasingly dominant part in the economic life of most countries, for whose social and economic development Governments have accepted special responsibilities. Much of the recent budget reclassification work has received an impetus from these workshops, and in a number of countries the results are now available in published form. The present document, prepared in the Fiscal and Financial Branch, in which developments in this field are summarized, was originally submitted to the second budget workshop held in Bangkok. Three of the four topics selected for discussion, namely, accounting systems introduced in public sector studies, the use of the cross-classification and the need for reconciliation statements, fall within the scope of reclassification for purposes of economic analysis. The fourth topic treatment of transactions of public enterprises deals, however, with a problem of great importance from point of view of budget management as well as economic analysis.