System to reinforce efficiency of public funds use

China is planning to establish a performance management system for budgets at various levels of government in the next three to five years to enable better budget management and policy implementation, according to a guideline published on Sept 25.

The guideline, jointly released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, aims to enable greater integration between budgets and performance management, and to improve efficiency of financial resource allocation and utilization.

It calls for efforts to accelerate the establishment of a modern financial system that is in line with requirements for comprehensively deepening reforms, as well as a budget system that is standardized, transparent, scientific and with effective rates of compliance.

The guideline recognized a number of prominent problems in the current performance management of budgets including cases where some local authorities and departments place more emphasis on boosting expenditures than on performance management.

The depth and extent of performance management have yet to cover all budgeted funds. There are still prominent problems of public funds remaining unused, inefficiently used, misused or even wasted, the guideline added.

The application of a performance management mechanism over public budgets is a key measure that can lead to a breakthrough related to problems in performance management and assessment, it said.

It can also help improve the efficiency of public funds usage, boost the quality of public services and enhance the credibility and executive authority of the government, it added.