Public Budgeting and Fiscal Management exposes public sector finance officers and budget officials from developing and transitional countries to the latest developments in budgeting and fiscal management.

Public budgeting and fiscal management are becoming increasingly important fiscal tools in the public sector. The introduction of modern fiscal management techniques at all levels of government is needed to ensure that the three objectives of expenditure management (aggregate fiscal discipline, expenditure prioritization, and operational efficiency) are achieved.

A number of global trends are emerging in fiscal management, including placement of the budget process in the context of a medium term budget strategy, the devolution of budget responsibilities to line agencies, and the introduction of performance-based budget techniques. In addition, budget analysis tools are becoming increasingly important in assuring the efficient allocation of public resources; among others, these tools include public expenditure reviews and performance-based assessments, fiscal architecture analysis, and fiscal incidence analysis. Policy experts at the Andrew Young School Program have been at the forefront of developing such budget analysis tools, and have worked extensively in guiding budgeting reforms in transitional and developing economies around the world.

In this course, topic-driven lectures, seminars and roundtable discussions will be supplemented by site-visits and workshops in which participants receive hands-on training in applying the latest financial management tools and techniques. Participants apply principles learned in the course to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their own budget systems and begin to develop proposals for strengthening budgets and budget processes in their home governments.

Participants need no previous formal education in economics or public administration, but the program is designed to be most useful for budget practitioners and policymakers from central, regional and local governments, as well as donor agency program managers from developing and transitional countries. Participants do not need any previous experience with computers. This course is taught in English.

If you have any questions regarding the content of this course, please do not hesitate to contact the Course Coordinator, Hiram Seraphin (hseraphin@gsu.edu).

• Principles of planning and budgeting
• Criteria for good planning and budgeting
• Performance based budgeting techniques
• Gender responsive budgeting
• Revenue forecasting techniques
• Integrating a medium term expenditure framework and budgeting
• Decision tools for budget formulation
• Capital investment programming and budgeting
• Financing budget deficits
• Fiscal policy and fiscal architecture
• Financial management systems and e-procurement
• Financial results auditing
• Developing proposals for budgeting reforms

Tuition for the three-week fiscal decentralization course is $7,650, tuition fee for the macroeconomics and education policy courses are $5,000 per course, and tuition for the tax policy and the public budgeting courses are $5,500 per course. The tuition fee includes all training-related costs, including instruction, course materials, single-occupancy lodging accommodations, local transportation and cultural activities. However, the course tuition does not include airfare to/from Atlanta, health insurance, meals, or other incidental expenses. The estimated cost for meals and incidental expenses for Atlanta is $49 per day.

Participants are typically funded by their government (e.g., Ministry of Finance) or through bilateral or multilateral development agencies. The participant is responsible for securing a commitment for funding before submitting the application. Examples of multilateral development agencies are the United Nations Development Program, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American Development Bank. Follow this link for additional information regarding funding opportunities.