A senior official of the nation's top legislative body called for a
deepened budget reform to help legislators better review the
nation's revenue and spending.
Budget review is an important part of the congressional supervision
in China.
China's Constitution stipulates that one of the major functions of
the National People's Congress (NPC), the nation's top legislative
body, is examining and approving at its annual meeting the central
budget and the report on its implementation.
"Improvement of budget review and supervision should accompany
budget reform, with particular regard to compilation of the
budget," said Su Ning, vice-director of the NPC Budgetary Work
Committee.
Su's committee was established at the end of 1998, the first year
of the incumbent Ninth NPC's five-year tenure, to assist the NPC
Financial and Economic Committee to review the central budget and
the final accounts as well as oversee the implementation of the
central budget.
"The more detailed the budget is laid out, the easier and more
efficient the budget review will be," he said.
The NPC Standing Committee passed a decision on enhancing
supervision of the central budget at the end of 1999 to make the
nation's overall spending plan more manageable, clear up random
expenditures through enhanced supervision and curb corruption.
The decision requires the State Council, China's cabinet, to draft
a more detailed and better structured budget, which is consistent
with the requirements of the budget reform started by the State
Council in 2000.
Prior to the reform, the budget was organized by type of
expenditure, instead of according to the spending plans of
governmental agencies.
The original budget, classified by uses such as administrative
expenditures and infrastructure costs, makes it a cake shared among
governmental agencies and sliced up by the Ministry of Finance.
"The money cannot be allocated reasonably, and it is difficult for
both the Finance Ministry and other governmental agencies to
control, manage and supervise the use of the money," Su said.
Under the new compilation method, the budget will be broken down by
department, allowing the NPC to have a clearer picture of how much
money each department is spending.
As
a trial operation, the ministries of agriculture, education,
science and technology as well as labor and social security
submitted their separate budgets to the NPC in 2000.
The practice was expanded to 26 out of the 29 departments under the
State Council in 2001 and 2002.
Su
said the budget should be more detailed so that they are clear
about not only how much each department is spending, but also how
the money is spent and how efficiently it is spent.
The budget reform has also led to an earlier drafting of the
budget, so that legislative officials have more time for review and
the budget can be approved earlier.
The Ministry of Finance now drafts the budget in July, four months
earlier than previously.
The ministry is legally required to inform the NPC Financial and
Economic Committee and the NPC Budgetary Work Committee of the
process of drafting the central budget.
The primary version of the central budget should be submitted to
Su's committee for preliminary review six weeks before the annual
NPC meeting.
The committee will then report their suggestions on how to adjust
the budget to the NPC Financial and Economic Committee, based on
its analysis and prediction.
Su
said his committee is expecting the government to make a mid-term
budget besides the current annual budget so that spending could be
arranged for a longer range of time.
His committee has already started research in this regard.
Su
said they will invite some academic institutions to help them
establish related models in a bid to improve budget
supervision.
(China Daily February 20, 2003)