Quality of Medium-term Budget Planning of the Federation
| Audit Id | 1493807073014 |
|---|---|
| Title | Quality of Medium-term Budget Planning of the Federation |
| Title in original language |
Qualität der mittelfristigen Haushaltsplanung des Bundes German |
| Year | 2016 |
| Subject |
Auditing and Financial Management |
| Type |
Financial |
| Type of performance |
Performed by single SAI |
| Comments | The medium-term budget planning of the Federation was deficient regarding transparency and traceability. A sufficient documentation was lacking and planning documents were available only to a limited extent. The plan values of the previous years had been electronically overwritten with current values. The process of the medium-term budget planning encountered problems of coordination between the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and other ministries. The medium-term budget planning of the Federation was shaped by numerous changes, which rendered sustainable planning impossible. This resulted in the fact that neither the BMF nor the other ministries had planning security. The changes, which amounted up to EUR 6.386 billion for 2012 were considerable. Multiple amendments, even during ongoing financial years, were particularly striking. The more time had passed since the plan values had been established, the higher was the deviation of outflows from the plan values. The medium-term financial plans, which had been established in particular for periods not yet planned for, could therefore not fulfil their purpose of providing planning security. At the time of the adoption of the Federal Medium-Term Expenditure Framework Acts, the final versions of the annual strategy reports of the Federal Government provided to the legislator lacked vital ministry-related information, which limited transparency. In several cases, the strategy reports therefore failed to provide a true and fair view of the economic situation and the expected development of the federal budget. Measures regarding the medium-term budget planning of the Federation to attain the budgetary objectives were partly formulated in a very general way and often lacked concrete quantifiable provisions concerning the attainment of objectives and the amount of savings. In several cases, planned savings could neither be substantiated nor could it be verified with which concrete measures these savings should be achieved. Consequently, comprehensible and conclusive information was lacking as to how these provisions were to be implemented. |
| Author |
Austria |
| Materials |
Audit report German Summary English |
| Contact |
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