Despite the publication of 2011 budgets by an increasing number of governments at all levels, including some central government departments, more pressure is apparently needed to push for greater transparency of government expenditure. This is because effective supervision by the public is out of the question unless a detailed list of all expenditures is available.

In most of the published budgets there is an entry labeled "other expenditures", which many believe is where items of spending, that some governments agencies do not want the general public to know about, get hidden.

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Premier Wen Jiabao said at a recent meeting that the government's public spending, budgets for administrative expenditure and investment in infrastructure should all be published to let residents know where the governments have spent taxpayers' money so that the public's effective supervision of government can be realized. Premier Wen also pointed out this is why government budgets must be made transparent.

These "other expenditures" make up 30 or 40 percent of the total expenditures published in the budgets of some local governments. This has considerably compromised the transparency of the published budgets.

Obviously, residents can never know where the money listed under the entry "other expenditures" has been spent. A government can put such spending as the purchase of luxury cars, unnecessary overseas trips and luxurious banquets under this entry.

In one particular case, an investigation of a local city broadcasting and television bureau head revealed that his recreational spending, which included such things as bath parlors, was part of the "other expenditures" in the city government's budget. Auditing of other government budgets revealed similar problems.

It is good to see an increasing number of local governments and central government departments starting to disclose their budgets.

However, the existence of such an entry as "other expenditures" in most of the published budgets sends the message that it will be a much longer process than we expected for all the local governments and even all central government departments to put their budgets under the microscope without reserve.

And it will also take some time for government officials, leaders in particular, to accept the notion that they are spending the public money on behalf of taxpayers, to whom every penny they spend should be accountable.

On this matter, the people's congress at various levels will have to play an even stricter role. They need to learn to reject budgets with entries such as "other expenditures".

Pressure should not only be exerted on the governments but also on the people's congresses, which should be pushed to have more bite. Their deputies elected by the people have every reason to act on behalf of those they represent.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/13/2011 page8)