THE PUBLIC SECTOR BUDGET AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

Abstract

The budget is no longer conceived as an isolated government mechanism, separate from the functioning of the economy, society, and the life of a nation. Nor is it considered a purely administrative and accounting instrument. Today, it is much more than that: it is a political tool, in that it expresses government decisions in concrete transactions and proposed results, and contributes to their execution through the exercise of power; it is a planning instrument in that it contains goals to be met through specific means; and it is an administrative instrument in that it must carry out specific actions to coordinate, execute, and control plans and programs.