Performance Budgeting: Practical Aspects of the Planning, Implementation and Monitoring Process

Objectives:
Performance budgeting has been on the agenda of public budget management for the past few decades. Since the 1990s, it has become a top priority for budgeting reforms in advanced as well as developing and transition countries. This workshop will discuss the trends in result-oriented budgeting and will use case studies to illustrate past experience and the future outlook for performance budgeting. The workshop will be led by experienced practitioners who are involved in the day-to-day business of performance budgeting. In style, the workshop will be practical, interactive and problem-solving oriented. The objective of this practitioner’s workshop is threefold:

•  to provide the participants with a knowledge of performance budgeting and practical aspects of its planning, implementation, and monitoring process;
• to discuss the role of performance budgeting in the public finance sector;
• to share practical experience regarding performance budgeting in public finance in the context of the EU integration process.

Target group:
This training course should be of particular interest to those involved in implementing performance budgeting: policy makers and public officials in the EU Member States, Candidate Countries and others. It should also be of interest to officials of European Institutions.

Description:
Given the comprehensive nature of this topic and the challenges associated with performance budgeting, this will be a unique event to discuss the current trends and efforts to plan and implement performance-based budgeting. Miriam Allam from EIPA Warsaw will provide a thorough overview of the concepts of performance budgeting and present case studies drawn from OECD countries. Together with Damian Gadzinowski and Professor Juraj Nemec she will also chair the group work on practical aspects of performance budgeting; ranging from reform planning to setting output/outcome objectives and targets. The changing role of auditors in light of performance budgeting will be reviewed by Damian Gadzinowski of EIPA Warsaw. Veronika Meszarits, Assistant to the Director General at the Budget Directorate in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance will then present her first-hand experience of performance budgeting and discuss the Austrian approach to budget reform. Krzysztof Pakoński, General Auditor and former deputy Mayor in Krakow, will close the course with a presentation on task-based budgeting in the City of Kraków, followed by a workshop on planning budgetary tasks. Juraj Nemec, Professor of Public Financial Management at the Matej Bel University in Slovakia will be the moderator and guide delegates through the whole course. The course will be highly interactive, and delegates will be encouraged to share experiences and ask practical questions as much as possible.

Method:
This two-day training course will use a mixture of presentations, exercises and group work to transfer knowledge and to facilitate the process of sharing experiences and mutual learning. Each presentation will include a Q&A session where the participants can raise issues of particular interest to themselves. Participants will also work in groups on case studies to illustrate practical issues involved in the process of performance budgeting. The participants will be provided with guidance on how to keep their knowledge and skills regarding the relevant issues up to date. The training course will be conducted in English.