Do you know whether your government spent the annual budget as planned? Did the government shift funding priorities during the year? Was funding cut for services and programs you care about? Do you know whether these shifts in spending are reviewed by the legislature or disclosed to the public? This resource aims to help answer these questions.
The International Budget Partnership compiled this resource for civil society organizations and others who work on fostering greater accountability of public spending to offer guidance on how to determine whether national or subnational government spending is “credible.” This toolkit presents an overview of the concept of budget credibility, why it matters, and how it can be investigated; and it provides tactics for engaging with governments to address credibility challenges. This is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, but rather, an accessible primer to clarify the issues, with references to other tools and resources to help you dig deeper.