III.  Open Budget Preparation, Execution, and Reporting  (continued)

Fiscal Reporting

3.4 There should be regular budget reporting to the legislature and the public.

143. The Code includes good practices relating to: (1) budget and extrabudgetary outturns; (2) final accounts; and (3) program results.

Budget and extrabudgetary outturns

3.4.1 A mid-year report on budget developments should be presented to the legislature. More frequent (at least quarterly) reports should also be published.

Periodicity and timeliness

144. This is a basic requirement of fiscal transparency. Effective fiscal management depends on timely, reliable, within-year information on the government's fiscal position. The mid-year budget report should contain a comprehensive analysis of budget implementation, including comparisons for all major revenue, expenditure, and financing items with mid-year figures for the preceding year and mid-year estimates for the budget. There should also be an up-dated forecast of the budget outcome for the current fiscal year, identifying the main factors causing a deviation between the budget and the expected budget outcome (e.g., changed economic assumptions, new policies, contingencies, changes in the timing of revenue or expenditure). It is a basic requirement of fiscal transparency that this report should be presented to the legislature within three months of mid-year. This is consistent with establishing accountability for appropriate responses to changing economic or fiscal circumstances, and is therefore a basic requirement of fiscal transparency. The OECD best practice guidelines suggest that the mid-year report should be presented to the legislature within six weeks of the end of the mid-year. GDDS standards for periodicity and timeliness of other central government fiscal reports to the public should be followed (each quarter within a quarter of the end of the period). These reports should contain details of revenue, expenditure, the fiscal balance, and financing with breakdowns (debt holder, instrument, currency, as relevant). Reporting of interest payments is encouraged. The SDDS requires that a monthly budget report should be published with a lag of a month, and this is best practice.¹²¹ For ease of reference, Box 21 sets out the GDDS and SDDS standards relevant to fiscal transparency.

145. It is also a basic requirement of fiscal transparency that details of central government debt and financial assets should be published annually, within six months of the end of the fiscal year. However, where public debt is significant, quarterly reporting should be an objective. Financial assets should generally be reported with the same frequency as debt. Information on debt should include the outstanding stock of debt for the current year and two prior years, and debt servicing costs for the same period. Best practice in debt reporting is the SDDS requirement that the central government debt should be reported quarterly, with a lag of a quarter.¹²² It is also recommended under the SDDS that debt service projections for medium- and long-term debt should be reported quarterly for the coming four quarters and on an annual basis thereafter. Projected repayments of short-term debt should always be reported on a quarterly basis.

General government coverage

146. Ideally, quarterly or mid-year reports should cover the general government fiscal position and provide a basis for assessing whether or not the broader fiscal targets that provide context for the budget can be achieved. However, as already noted, many governments will not be able to provide full and timely coverage of subnational levels of government in fiscal reports. But where the fiscal responsibilities of subnational levels of government are significant, an aggregate summary statement of their fiscal position should be published where practicable, if necessary using partial indicators of their fiscal position, such as bank borrowing or bond issues. Best practice is that reliable information on the general government outturn should be published within twelve months of year end.

Box 21. Fiscal Transparency and Data Dissemination Standards
The fiscal transparency Code and Manual generally adopt identical standards for coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of data dissemination to those set by the SDDS and the GDDS. The Code does, however, deal in addition with dissemination through budget documentation and published audited final accounts, which are not explicitly covered in SDDS/GDDS. It also gives greater emphasis to disclosure of certain elements, such as contingent liabilities. In the terminology used in the fiscal transparency manual, standards under the SDDS generally correspond to best practice, and the GDDS to basic requirements. The relevant SDDS/GDDS standards are set out in the table below.
Fiscal sector	SDDS	GDDS
Central government operations  Coverage  Periodicity  Timeliness	A Monthly One month	A Quarterly One quarter
Central government debt  Coverage  Periodicity  Timeliness	B Quarterly One quarter	D Annual—quarterly encouraged 1-2 quarters
General government/public sector  operations  Coverage  Periodicity  Timeliness	C Annual Two quarters	E E E
Covers budget and extrabudgetary funds, showing fiscal balance and main components of deficit/surplus and financing; identification of interest payments is encouraged. Breakdown by maturity, domestic/foreign, currency; guaranteed debt (as relevant); quarterly debt service projections encouraged. General government as for A. If public sector, may be defined in a variety of ways. As for B; but guaranteed debt encouraged; debt service projections not required. An encouraged extension of GDDS requirements. Coverage as for C, dissemination within 6-9 months.

Final accounts

3.4.2 Final accounts should be presented to the legislature within a year of the end of the fiscal year.

147. This is a basic requirement of fiscal transparency. The coverage of final accounts, and their timing, should be specified in the budget law. The final accounts should demonstrate compliance with the budget as adopted by the legislature; they should be reconciled in detail with budget appropriations, and a summary table presented showing the major causes of deviation from the original appropriation; they should be in the same format as the budget, and show any within-year changes to the original budget agreed to by the legislature; and they should also contain comparative information for the previous two fiscal years. As a rule, final accounts for each level of government will be audited and presented only within the relevant jurisdiction. The central government, however, should present a reliable picture of the accounts of subnational levels of government where these activities have a significant fiscal impact, and summarize the fiscal outturn for general government. Best practice is that final accounts of central government should be presented to the legislature within six months of the end of the fiscal year.

Program results

3.4.3 Results achieved relative to the objectives of major budget programs should be presented to the legislature annually.

148. It is a basic requirement of fiscal transparency that a statement of the objectives of major budget programs be reported. The outputs and outcomes of government programs should then be monitored and the legislature should be provided with a description and assessment of results against program objectives specified in the budget documentation within twelve months of year end. Comparative information should be provided for the previous two fiscal years. Best practice is that results achieved relative to all performance targets should be independently audited, and presented to the legislature within six months of the end of the fiscal year.

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