Strengthening Budget Institutions (SBI)

Course details

Target Audience

Senior to mid-level officials of ministries of finance, treasuries or finance units in sector ministries or agencies.

Qualification:

Participants should be involved in fiscal policy-making, budget preparation, execution, accounting or expenditure control.

Language:

The course is conducted in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Arabic.

Course Description:

This course, offered by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, discusses how strong budget procedures can improve fiscal management and help governments in achieving their fiscal objectives. Good practices in fiscal policy formulation, budget preparation, budget approval, budget execution, accounting and reporting, and financial control and audit are explored. The course highlights important principles, institutional arrangements, and techniques, such as fiscal rules, fiscal transparency, medium-term budgeting, top-down budgeting, accrual accounting, internal control, performance budgeting, and long-term fiscal projections and how they can contribute to better fiscal discipline and improved efficiency. Presentations are complemented by a number of case studies, illustrating how modern budget techniques have been introduced in individual countries. The course also includes workshops, where participants will be asked to apply the course material to solve specific budget-related problems.