IBSER Collaboration with Westminster Foundation for Democracy Continues
20 January 2011
On 19-20 January 2011, experts of the Budget Institute were training the staff of Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget in the practical aspects of applying certain methods of economic analysis in the budget process, international public finance statistics standards, and their special uses in the context of financial control.
The event was sponsored by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which is part of the Westminster Consortium for Parliaments and Democracy, under the Program of support to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which is intended for improving the qualifications of parliamentary staff to satisfy the present and future needs of the Ukrainian parliament by means of delivering a series of training seminars.
This is the second such training conducted by experts of the Budget Institute, Program's local partner, under a grant provided by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy for conducting a series of parliamentary training events aimed at improving the awareness of best international practices in the area of financial supervision and control.
During the training, the participants discussed the methods and models of cost analysis, the importance of time, and sensitivity analysis when implementing cost-benefit analysis, analysis and types of risk variables using the case of a selected budget program, and they also practiced the skills of building a cost-benefit table. Later on, the participants were introduced to the international Government Finance Statistics (GFS) standards, special features of a transition from the cash-based to accrual accounting, and also considered the general requirements to budget classification as applied in GFS international standards.
The skills learned at the seminar can be used by the Secretariat staff for analyzing budget requests of key spending units when a Draft Law on the State Budget of Ukraine is being reviewed by the Committee on Budget, as well as when analyzing other legislative drafts, which could influence the future budget indicators. The training participants have also argued for the need of improving the existing Ukrainian standards, which would help to raise the efficiency of budget spending and promote openness of the budget process.
In training participants’ own words:
“The methodology of economic evaluation of alternative costs and benefits proposed at the seminar by the Budget Institute would be well suited for use at the stage of developing investment projects to be financed by public funds. This method could significantly improve the use of budget funds... Publication of the results of such analysis would help the government to justify allocation of significant budget resources or incurring a debt for implementation of that or other investment project, and would allow the general public to assess the real benefits from such costs.”
“Clearly, the partners of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy are, if not the best, then one of the best operating on the consultancy services market in the area of public finance today. The concepts presented were quite complex. However, the trainers were very professional both in their preparation, and in selecting appropriate methods of presenting the subject-matter to the audience. We are all very satisfied with trainers' performance.”
The staff of the Secretariat of the Committee on Budget will have another opportunity to practice their new knowledge by participating in a practical session scheduled for the second half of March 2011.
This information has been prepared based on the materials of the Ukrainian Center for Parliamentary Studies website: http://www.parliamentarycentre.org.ua/ua/articles
The event was sponsored by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which is part of the Westminster Consortium for Parliaments and Democracy, under the Program of support to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which is intended for improving the qualifications of parliamentary staff to satisfy the present and future needs of the Ukrainian parliament by means of delivering a series of training seminars.
This is the second such training conducted by experts of the Budget Institute, Program's local partner, under a grant provided by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy for conducting a series of parliamentary training events aimed at improving the awareness of best international practices in the area of financial supervision and control.
During the training, the participants discussed the methods and models of cost analysis, the importance of time, and sensitivity analysis when implementing cost-benefit analysis, analysis and types of risk variables using the case of a selected budget program, and they also practiced the skills of building a cost-benefit table. Later on, the participants were introduced to the international Government Finance Statistics (GFS) standards, special features of a transition from the cash-based to accrual accounting, and also considered the general requirements to budget classification as applied in GFS international standards.
The skills learned at the seminar can be used by the Secretariat staff for analyzing budget requests of key spending units when a Draft Law on the State Budget of Ukraine is being reviewed by the Committee on Budget, as well as when analyzing other legislative drafts, which could influence the future budget indicators. The training participants have also argued for the need of improving the existing Ukrainian standards, which would help to raise the efficiency of budget spending and promote openness of the budget process.
In training participants’ own words:
“The methodology of economic evaluation of alternative costs and benefits proposed at the seminar by the Budget Institute would be well suited for use at the stage of developing investment projects to be financed by public funds. This method could significantly improve the use of budget funds... Publication of the results of such analysis would help the government to justify allocation of significant budget resources or incurring a debt for implementation of that or other investment project, and would allow the general public to assess the real benefits from such costs.”
“Clearly, the partners of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy are, if not the best, then one of the best operating on the consultancy services market in the area of public finance today. The concepts presented were quite complex. However, the trainers were very professional both in their preparation, and in selecting appropriate methods of presenting the subject-matter to the audience. We are all very satisfied with trainers' performance.”
The staff of the Secretariat of the Committee on Budget will have another opportunity to practice their new knowledge by participating in a practical session scheduled for the second half of March 2011.
This information has been prepared based on the materials of the Ukrainian Center for Parliamentary Studies website: http://www.parliamentarycentre.org.ua/ua/articles
Glyanec