Public finances

These policy briefs, produced by WFD and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) provide information on the role of parliaments in debt transparency and debt sustainability explain parliamentary roles and good practices related to public debt. They are four policy briefs, structured around key themes:

One of the outputs of the projects was the Parliament to enhance knowledge, awareness and information of practices and instruments that support financial oversight. In that direction, three pilot products has been developed for the Macedonian Assembly to test new financial oversight practices and present them to relevant stakeholders in parliament, government and CSOs to support their engagement in the budget process.

As global governments seek to manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on public finances has been devastating. With many countries struggle with high levels of public debt, the role of parliament in the governance and oversight of financial decision-making has never been more important.

These reports serve not only as a unique monitoring effort, but also as advocacy tools to be used by civil society and the public to further improve the health system to better serve the citizens in need.

The reports address the following questions:

In many political systems, parliaments are responsible for approving the budget and controlling government spending, so that funds are used effectively, efficiently and fairly and  are not misappropriated. However, legislators do not always have access to the financial information they need to fulfil this role, while the executive enjoys privileged access to economic and financial forecasts.

As part of Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s (WFD) eight-part series on financial accountability, this brief focuses on the role of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO). The majority of the work of the PBO takes place during the budget formulation phase, although some of the PBO’s work could occur outside the regular budget cycle. Citing examples from WFD’s experience supporting PBOs, this brief examines: