Efficiency of the medium-term planning of federal expenditures in Germany: main structural changes

Abstract

The paper examines the efficiency of medium-term financial planning in Germany from the point of view of the essence of structural changes in the expenditure part of the federal budget. The author used the data on the execution of three five-year plans (for 2002–2006, 2007-2011, 2012–2016) and on the five-year plan for 2017–2021. The dynamics and structure of federal expenditures by cross-classification (simultaneously by functional and economic classifications) were analyzed. At the same time, intermediate and final structural shifts were identified. The results of the calculations led to the conclusions about a clear consistency of structural changes in the expenditure part of Germany’s federal budget and about the main content of these shifts, which is to increase the emphasis of federal spending on health and education/science by reducing interest payments on state debt.

Keywords

• five-year financial planning in germany
• federal budget’s expenses
• crossclassification
• the dynamics of expenses
• the structure of expenses.