Ministries' Outcome Budget should list out reform steps: FinMin

Finance Ministry has asked all the ministries and departments to list out reform measures and major policy initiatives taken by them in the ‘Outcome Budget 2016-17’.

The Outcome Budget - which has become an integrated part of the Budgeting process since 2005-06 - should indicate physical dimensions and also the actual performance, the Finance Ministry said.

The draft outcome budget, it said, will  have to vetted by the expenditure department and the NITI Aayog.

As regards the reforms, the office memorandum issued by the Finance Ministry said, the Outcome Budget 2016-17 should have details of “reform measures and policy initiatives...  taken by the ministry/department and how they relate to the intermediate outputs and final outcomes in areas such as PPPs, internal revenue mobilisation efforts...greater decentralisation  and transparency etc”.

The ministry further said that the ‘Outcome Budget’ should also contain a executive summary highlighting the details of the monitoring mechanism and the public information system set up by the departments to monitor physical and financial progress of the projects during the course of the year.

The outcomes, the finance ministry said, should reflect the ultimate aims of government policy through budgetary support, tax exemptions/concessions and preferential treatment in procurement of goods and services.

The analysis of the physical performance, the guidelines said, should be scheme-wise with the reasons for variations, explaining the scope and objectives of individual programme/ scheme, physical targets and achievements”.