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The 30th annual meeting of the OECD Working Party of Senior Budget Officials (SBO) was held in Paris on 4-5 June 2009. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ian Watt, Permanent Secretary, Australian Department of Finance and Deregulation. Several former chairs were also present to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the working party.
Another highlight of the meeting was the launch of a new publication: a compilation of papers written by Professor Allen Schick for the SBO over the years, entitled Evolutions in Budgetary Practice: Allen Schick and the OECD Senior Budget Officials.
Agenda: GOV/PGC/SBO/A(2009)4
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Thirty years of SBO – its origins and evolution: The SBO was launched in 1980 as an ad hoc response to the budget stress that beset most developed countries in the aftermath of oil price shocks, high inflation, and economic stagnation. The origins of the SBO were discussed by Mr Derry Ormond, one of the “founders” of the SBO and former Head of the OECD Technical Co-operation Service/Public Management Service (1972-1998). Several former SBO chairs made comments on the evolution and expansion of the SBO over the past 30 years.
Budgeting and the global financial crisis: The global financial crisis and the extraordinary governmental and international responses give rise to fundamental questions that go to the core of budgeting as the authoritative process for allocating public money. A lead presentation was given by Professor Allen Schick, Brookings Institution, Washington DC, followed by delegate comments on experiences in their respective countries.
Fiscal futures, institutional budget reforms, and their effects: The OECD has conducted research extrapolating data from 12 OECD countries on the role of fiscal projections in balancing political pressures for short-term spending against fiscal pressures and risks over an extended time horizon. The Secretariat discussed the conclusions of this research and made recommendations concerning three aspects of fiscal projections: their frequency, their analytical quality, and their institutional quality. The final report will be published in the OECD Journal on Budgeting.
Dynamic scoring: Dynamic scoring means taking full account of all the economic effects of policies when estimating their budgetary effects. This session assessed the key conceptual and practical challenges posed by dynamic scoring, and considered the pros and cons of adopting it. A lead presentation was given by Mr Stuart Adam and Mr Antoine Bozio of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, London.
Friday, 5 June 2009
Tax expenditures in OECD countries – update: Tax expenditures are losses to the budget from granting certain deductions, exemptions, or credits to specific categories of taxpayers. In some cases, tax expenditures may be an alternative to direct government spending on policy programmes. These issues were discussed at last year’s SBO meeting in Vienna and subsequently in a joint meeting with the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs (taxation). This session provided an update on progress, given by Mr Joseph Minarik, Committee for Economic Development, Washington DC. Mr Georges-Henri Lion, French Ministry of Budget, also updated delegates on an international study conducted by the Ministry of Budget, and discussed tax reform efforts in France.
Budgeting for natural disasters: This session discussed the most appropriate budgetary treatment for the government’s share of losses from low-frequency, high-cost events whose size and timing are difficult to predict. A lead presentation was given by Mr Marvin Phaup and Ms Charlotte Kirschner, George Washington University, United States.
Budgeting in Mexico (peer review): Peer reviews are a key tool for analysing innovations in budgeting and public expenditure practices and for making them visible in the international arena. Following a common methodology and conceptual framework, reviews promote the sharing of experience among countries and the formulation and diffusion of relevant policy recommendations. The Secretariat presented its draft report on budgeting in Mexico, and several countries commented.
Report on current SBO activities and future work programme: The Secretariat provided a general report on activities since the last meeting of the Working Party, including an update on the work of each of the SBO subsidiary bodies (presentation by Jón Blöndal), a progress report on the expansion of the OECD Survey on Budget Practices and Procedures (presentation by Ian Hawkesworth), and a proposal for performance reviews (presentation by Teresa Curristine).
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