Modernizing the budget system: The Malaysian experience
| Author | Doh Joon‐Chien |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230010405 |
| Published date | 01 October 1981 |
| Date | 01 October 1981 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT,
Vol.
1,
291-305 (1981)
Modernizing the Budget System: the Malaysian Experience
DOH JOON-CHIEN
University
of
Malaya
SUMMARY
Programme and performance budgeting (PPB) was first introduced in Malaysia in 1969 and
experience with operating and developing the system carries lessons for other countries. The
initial introduction under the influence
of
external advisers, involved treating PPB as a
mechanical exercise in which right procedures had to be followed. From 1972 the strategy
changed to making the system serve to assist with utilizing and managing resources more
efficiently in relation to programme objectives. The successful development
of
the system
agency by agency points first to the importance
of
local rather than foreign expertise; second,
to the need for the agency head to be committed and involved, rather than leave the
introduction and management of the system to lower level experts; and third to the
significance of the leadership role
of
the Treasury.
To
be useful, the budget system of a country must complement the changing needs
of
government. When its role is simple and relatively limited, such as the concern
of
a colonial government with the collection
of
revenue and the maintenance
of
law
and order, a traditional system
of
budgeting would suffice. In this system the focus
is on control and the legality
of
expenditure. Such control is effected through the
itemization
of
objects
of
expenditure. While this system
of
budgeting facilitates the
enforcement of legal accountability
(by
the process
of
auditing the items
of
expenditure), it does not provide useful information for the purpose
of
planning
or
the management
of
programmes.
When the basic objective
of
government changes from custody to development,
it has to undertake new functions and expand existing ones. In the process the
scope and the volume of government activity increases greatly. The task
of
management in government becomes more complicated. Much greater demand is
placed on the budget system as well as the accounting system to supply relevant
information for the purpose
of
planning and management. With increasing
aspirations on the part
of
people and the limited resources at the disposal
of
government, the question
of
the effective and efficient utilization
of
resources
assumes greater significance. Since this question is what budgeting
is
all about, it is
not surprising that the governments
of
developing countries have been very
receptive to the idea of modernizing their systems
of
budgeting.
Owing to the support and publicity given by the United Nations to programme
and performance budgeting
(PPB),
including the publication
of
a manual in
1965,
Dr. Doh
is
an Associate Professor
in
the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University
of
Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
22-1
1
0271 -2075/8 1/040291-15$01
SO
0
1981 by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
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