财政透明度与预算改革:基于四川省县级政府的调查研究

Fiscal Transparency and Budgeting Reform: A Survey of County-level Governments in Sichuan Province

笔者跟踪调查了2010—2012年四川省181个县(市辖区、县级市、自治县)的财政信息公开情况,发现3年间县级财政透明度的总分平均值分别为18.40、21.36和31.80(满分100)。调查反映出的特征事实包括:1.四川省县级财政透明度的绝对水平不高,但呈上升趋势;2.成都市县级财政透明度显著领先于四川省内其他地级市;3.在四川省县级政府结构和职能的基本信息之外,部门间权责关系有待公开厘清;4.大多数的四川省县级政府没有完整公布预决算文件;5.四川省县级"三公"消费和非一般公共预算信息严重缺失;6.四川省县级预算对会计基础和编制标准的说明普遍忽视;7.大多数的四川省县级政府没有及时公布预决算文件。结合新《预算法》的要求和对四川省的调查结果,我们认为良好的财政透明度是预算信息真实性的保证,而后续改革应注重加强预算信息的全面性、详细性、及时性和易懂性,从而通过财政透明程度的提升来推动我国现代财政制度的建立。

In a survey of 181 counties （ urban districts, county-level cities, or autonomous counties） in Sichuan province in China for the period 2010-2012, we find that the annual total average scores of fiscal transparency are 18.40, 21.36, and 31.80, respectively, with the total points possible being 100. Under current budgeting practice, 1. fiscal transparency at the county level in Sichuan rises from low levels, 2. overall, county-level governments in Chengdu are more transparent than any other prefectures in Sichuan, 3. except information on government structure and functions, relationships among county-level government agencies in Sichuan are not clearly defined and reported, 4. most county-level governments in Sichuan fail to release all budget documents with essential details, 5. information on government consumption and non-general fund accounts is in severe shortage at the county level in Sichuan, 6. reporting general principles in accounting and budgeting is not yet a common practice among county-level governments in Sichuan, and 7. most county- level governments in Sichuan fail to release budget documents in a timely fashion. We argue that, by promoting genuine, complete, detailed, intelligible, and timely budgetary information, budgeting reform to improve fiscal transparency will help China evolve into a modem fiscal system.