Lack govt supervision, says expert

Lack govt supervision, says expert

• Source: Global Times
• [08:46 March 14 2011]
• Comments

By Li Shuang

Thirty-four out of 58 municipal government offices and bureaus missed the March 10 deadline to release their budget report for 2011, as required by the Budget Law.

So far the budgets of 14 bureaus still remain MIA, which reflects a lack of supervision, experts say.

All 58 municipal government offices and bureaus were required to publish their annual budget report within 15 days of approval by the municipal People's Congress and Bureau of Finances on February 25.

However, 14 bureaus, including Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication and Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate, still haven't released budget reports as of Sunday evening.

"It shows a lack of supervision," Wang Yukai, a professor with the National Academy of Governance, told the Global Times, "there is no punishment for missing a deadline."

According to the Budget Law of People's Republic of China (effective since January 1, 1995), the Municipal People's Congress is to supervise the government's budget, but no details were provided as to the penalty for missing the deadline, Wang explained.

Another area lacking supervision is how detailed the published budget plans should be.

The majority of budget reports contain merely two categories; "general public service" and "employment and social security", while failing to itemize such expenditures as banquets, office construction and official luxury vehicles.

Such reports make it nearly impossible for a taxpayer to supervise government spending in any meaningful way.

"What's more important than meeting the deadline is what details the published documents provide. The public wants to know how the government plans to spend, but it's not yet regulated by law", Wang added, "The Budget Law needs revision and more details."

A few breakthroughs are also being noted. For the first time, the Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security has released a 9-page report detailing their spending from furniture to "foreign talent recruitment."

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development revealed their budget for the controversial official car purchase and maintenance, which is 510,000 yuan ($77,564) for 2011.

"I see progress being made as the public pays more attention to this issue," Wang Xixin, a professor at Peking University Law School, told the Global Times.