From zero-base budgeting to spending review – achievements and challenges

This paper traces the development of spending reviews from their origins in a set of budgetary innovations in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s – notably zero-base budgeting (ZBB) and Planning, Programming and Budgeting Systems (PPBS) – to their application internationally for budget management and fiscal consolidation. Spending reviews have been successfully developed and applied in mostly advanced economies but, because they rely on advanced tools of fiscal analysis and established public financial management systems, their application in low- and middle-income countries is more limited. Many countries use spending reviews to identify budgetary savings or to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the government's spending policies and programmes. The reviews can either be comprehensive or target specific programmes or areas of spending. Finance ministries are the cornerstone of an effective spending review process, which requires strong analytical skills and tools, as well as reliable data. Line ministries also play a key role and good use can be made of external experts. Political oversight and good governance are fundamental to success, but countries have followed a variety of models in designing their spending review processes; simpler approaches are available for countries with low capacity.