Spending reviews: A more powerful approach to ensuring value in public finances
- Rima Assi, Jonathan Dimson, Andrew Goodman, Jens Riis Andersen
- Mar 2019
- McKinsey Global Institute
- International
Governments around the world face an imperative to manage their resources efficiently and provide services at the lowest possible cost. For some governments, this has involved going beyond traditional budgeting and taking a more innovative approach to managing public finances: spending reviews.
Spending reviews have the potential to provide significant insight into budget allocations, leading to recommendations that can enable higher productivity and greater operational efficiency. They also boost transparency, offering citizens more insight into why and how money is spent. There is no single formula for spending reviews, and governments can tailor their frameworks based on their own priorities. However, there are approaches that can help support sustainability and increase the chance of ongoing benefits. Governments that put in place these strategic foundations are likely to succeed in creating a new generation of structured spending reviews that are reliable, effective, and rewarding.
