3:5. As with PI-1, it is crucial that the originally approved budget is the budget on which budget units base their annual expenditure plans and implementation at the commencement of the fiscal year. Failure of the legislature to approve the budget within the time specified in the constitution may result in significant delays in budget approval well into the fiscal year. When, owing to such delays, there is, in effect, no originally approved budget, the deviation between budget and outturn cannot be calculated, and that particular fiscal year should be considered an ‘outlier,’ as discussed in PI-1. The original approved budget, not supplementary budget, should be used for calculation.
3:6. The indicator can be calculated using either cashbased or accrual-based accounting. The basis chosen should be noted and used consistently in all indicator assessments. PI-3 covers all revenue, whether current or capital, irrespective of which version of the GFS manual is used (i.e., 1986, 2001, or 2014), and regardless of the method used to calculate the deficit. Thus, it includes capital receipts from the sale of assets and privatization proceeds.
3:7. If some revenues are extrabudgetary, and are thus not reported nor fully covered by the main BCG budget, they should be estimated in the assessment of dimension PI-6.2, and the narrative under PI-3 should cross-reference this.
3:8. Shared revenues that pass through the central government budget should be included in the central government assessment. However, if revenues are ‘shared’ before they reach central government accounts or funds, then they should be excluded, since the budget will not reflect the estimated revenue—or any spending from the subnational government share of the revenue. The subnational share of the revenue will be covered by the subnational government assessment.
3:9. It is normal that the scoring of quantitative indicators should be based on unaudited accounts, since the accounts of the most recent year(s) may still be awaiting audit. The unaudited accounts
can be used with reasonable assurance if they do not differ significantly from previously audited accounts. In the absence of such assurance (because accounts have not been audited for several years, or because nonsystematic and significant differences exist between audited and unaudited accounts), it is recommended that the unaudited data be used. In such cases the assessment should be considered preliminary and should be updated after accounts have been audited. In Jurisdictional Court System, as there are rarely audited financial accounts, certified accounts or judged accounts could be used.
3:10. Grants from development partners should be included in the revenue data used for this indicator but borrowing on concessional terms from development partners should not.
3:11. Calculations of the deviations between approved budgets and outturns for each dimension should be performed using the spreadsheet provided on the PEFA website www.pefa.org. Calculations for the indicator should be included in the assessment report as an Annex.
Dimension 3.1. Aggregate revenue outturn
DIMENSION MEASUREMENT GUIDANCE
3.1:1. This dimension measures the extent to which revenue outturns deviate from the originally approved budget. Use spreadsheets provided on the PEFA website to calculate the score for this indicator. Calculations for the dimension should be included in the assessment report as an Annex.
3.1:2. Assessors are encouraged to provide information explaining the causes of the differences between the executed budget and the approved budget. Explanations may include the accuracy of the original fiscal forecasts, external factors that may have impacted on revenues and expenditures after the budget was approved, and/or post-budget spending and revenue policy decisions, etc. Assessors are encouraged to specify whether these explanations come from the government or their own assessment.
PEFA Handbook Volume 1: The PEFA Assessment Process – Planning, Managing and Using PEFA
