Problemi Ekonomiki (Sep 2018)
Priorities for Improving the Efficiency of Budget Expenditures
Abstract
The aim of the article is to determine the nature of and justify the priorities for improving the efficiency of budget expenditures in the context of institutional changes in the government finance system. It is proposed to consider the category of cost-effectiveness in the context of fulfilling the objectives of fiscal policy, in particular, those concerning ensuring macroeconomic stability and creating incentives for economic growth, and of results achieved in improving the welfare of the population. An analysis of the trends in changes of the share of expenditures of the consolidated budget of Ukraine as a percentage of GDP for the period from 1992 to 2017 is carried out. The average forecast of this indicator for 2017–2021 is presented. It is identified that in the period of economic growth, the domestic budget policy was pro-cyclical in nature. The increase in expenditure weights was carried out without systemic institutional changes in government finance, which affected the decrease in cost-effectiveness and unbalanced the budget system in the following budget periods. The importance of fiscal decentralization in ensuring the growth of the overall level of budgetary performance is substantiated. The directions for improving the efficiency of budget expenditures on education and science, health care, social protection, and social security are proposed. The necessary changes in the functioning of the higher education system are modernizing the financial basis to conduct scientific research and implement their results in the educational process; focusing on the applied aspects of studying a specialty; developing mechanisms to assess the quality of higher education; providing financial independence to educational institutions. Important aspects of the public policy are the further introduction of the insurance and fee-for-service medicine on the basis of co-financing; compiling of the basic list and standards of relevant medical services guaranteed by the state, financed by the budget. In the field of social protection, it is advisable to develop tools to ensure the targeting of the benefits provided and streamline the categories of recipients.
