What are public finances, what do we need to know?

The public finances are the management of a country's revenue. The importance of public finances cannot be overemphasized. Mainly, it analyzes the impact of financial activities taken by the government on individuals and legal entities.

It is the branch of economics that evaluates government revenue and government expenditure and the adjustment of either to achieve desirable effects and avoid undesirable effects. They are another area of finance as personal finances.

This article gives you an overview of public finance management, importance, scope of public finance, objectives and types of public finance.

🥀 What is Public Finance?

Public finance can be defined as the study of government activities, which can include spending, deficits, and taxation. The objectives of public finance are to recognize when, how and why government should intervene in today's economy.

They also seek to understand the possible outcomes of changes in the market. Public finance can involve matters outside of economics, including accounting, law, and public finance management.

Understanding the role of government and how changes can affect the economy are some important aspects of public finance professionals.

When the government intervenes and acts within the economy, the results fall into one of three categories: economic efficiency, income distribution ou macroeconomic stabilization.

✔️ Economic efficiency

Economic efficiency is the standard used by economists to value a variety of resources. Typically, efficiency can be determined by a general formula of ratios and their generated results.

The difference between technical efficiency and economic efficiency is the relationship of the values ​​that people place on things. Technical efficiency values ​​can be subjective from person to person. Economic efficiency focuses on eliminating waste to provide the most value possible.

Technical efficiency seeks to maximize value, while sacrificing as much as necessary to create the best initiative.

✔️ Salary distribution

Income distribution is the calculation of a nation's wealth and income once it is divided by its total population. The overall distribution can be assessed by a series of statistical studies. Wealth and income are two separate entities.

Wealth is the aggregate value of a population's physical possessions and financial assets. Income is the exact monetary value of the net contribution of a population over a given period.

Information gathered from a country's wealth and income can be a valuable resource to help answer a variety of political, social and economic questions.

✔️ Macroeconomic stabilization

Macroeconomic stabilization is a process by which the stabilization and growth of the economy is controlled through the development of fiscal and monetary policies, laws, and regulations.

It is the foundation of economic growth. Without stabilization, the economy is doomed to collapse.

To achieve a stabilized macroeconomic environment, a balance is needed between government budgeting, domestic trade, banking, international trade and governing institutions.

In order to maintain continued macroeconomic stabilization and an optimal level of economic efficiency, the market must be managed to ensure that interest rates, business cycles and demand within the economy remain stable.

🥀 Components of public finances

The main components of public finance include activities related to the collection of tax revenues, the making of expenditures to support society, and the implementation of a financing strategy (such as the issuance of public debt).

The main components include:

✔️ Tax collection

Tax collection is the main source of revenue for governments. Examples of taxes levied by governments include value added tax, corporation tax, personal income tax, inheritance tax, property tax, etc.

Other types of revenue in this category include duties and tariffs on imports and revenue from any type of public service that is not free.

✔️ The budget

The budget is a plan of what the government intends to spend in a fiscal year. Here is a guide that allows you easily establish your family budget in a few minutes.

✔️ Expenses

Spending is anything a government actually spends money on, such as social programs, education, and infrastructure. Much of government spending is a form of income or wealth redistribution, which aims to benefit society as a whole.

Actual expenses may be higher or lower than budget.

✔️ Deficit/Surplus

If the government spends more than it collects in revenue, there is a deficit that year. Otherwise, there is a surplus. Below is a list of some of the most common revenues and expenses in the world of public finance.

🥀Some sources of income/Taxes

The state generates revenue and collects taxes from different sources to finance its public activities and services. Here are some of the state's major sources of revenue and taxes

Income taxes

Individuals are subject to income tax based on their income bracket. Tax rates generally vary depending on income level, with higher rates for higher income brackets.

Society taxes

Companies are required to pay tax on profits made. The corporate tax rate can vary depending on the jurisdiction and type of business.

VAT (Value Added Tax)

VAT is an indirect tax levied on the value added at each stage of the production and distribution of a good or service. VAT rates may vary by country and product.

Tariffs

Customs duties are taxes imposed on imported or exported goods. They can be based on a percentage of the property value or on specific pricing.

Property taxes

Property owners must pay property taxes on their real estate. The amount of property tax is generally determined based on the value of the property and local tax rates.

Fuel taxes

Fuel taxes are levied on gasoline, diesel, and other fuels used in vehicles. These taxes are generally collected to finance road infrastructure and transport-related projects.

Social contributions

Employers and employees contribute to social security systems through social contributions. These contributions finance benefits such as health insurance, retirement pensions and family allowances.

It should be noted that sources of income and taxes may vary from country to country, depending on the tax laws in force in each country.

🥀 Some Sources of Government Spending

Public finances bring together all expenditure and revenue of the State as well as local authorities. They fulfill three essential missions.

First, the optimal allocation of resources. Thanks to public investments in key sectors such as education, health or transport, public finances must allow effective allocation of national resources towards economic and social priorities.

Second objective: redistribution to correct income inequalities. Particularly through income tax and social transfers such as housing or family allowances, public finances aim to redistribute part of the wealth produced towards the most disadvantaged categories.

Third function finally : economic stabilization. By using countercyclical budgetary and fiscal levers (deficits, public debt, tax cuts), public finances must make it possible to regulate the economy, by stimulating activity in times of crisis and slowing it down during booms.

Ultimately, through their financial firepower and their large number of levers of action, public finances are an essential tool in the hands of the State to strategically guide the economic and social development of the country.

✔️ The national debt

If the government has a deficit (spending exceeds revenue), it will finance the difference by borrowing money and issuing national debt.

Creditors can be internal (debt borrowed from domestic lenders such as banks or financial institutions) and external (debt borrowed from international financial institutions and governments).

✔️ Financial administration

Financial administration is the part of public finance. It focuses on administrative control techniques and issues relating to budget preparation. It is a tool through which the financial operations of countries are carried out.

The subject of financial administration is: How is the budget prepared, adopted and executed? What factors are taken into account when preparing the budget?

How are taxes collected by the different authorities? Which departments are responsible for auditing and reporting public accounts?

🥀 Public finance objectives

Public finances bring together all expenditure and revenue of the State as well as local authorities. They fulfill three main objectives:

The first objective is the optimal allocation of resources. Thanks to public spending in key sectors (education, health, transport, etc.), public finances aim for an efficient allocation of national resources towards future investments and priority needs.

Second objective: the redistribution of wealth. Via taxes and social transfers, a fraction of the resources collected is intended for the most disadvantaged members of society. The idea is to correct inequalities to ensure social cohesion.

Third function: economic stabilization. Through public deficits, sovereign debt and tax variations, public finances have a role of economic regulation. The objective is to smooth economic cycles.

Ultimately, public finances constitute a powerful instrument for strategically guiding the national economy and influencing collective well-being. Their control is essential for any government.

🥀 Need for effective management of public finances

State governments have witnessed permanent and continuous fiscal imbalances, financial failures due to underlying complex financial systems and products.

Public finance institutions such as state and central governments, public funds, tax authorities, central banks, regulators, public auditors and rating agencies are planning many manipulations, amendments and reforms to manage public finances for the current and future well-being of society.

In order to quickly correct the undesirable event in times of stress, the well-being of the society at present and that of the existing members sometimes leads to fatal consequences.

Mismanagement of public finances leads to digging much deeper holes in public financial accounts, such as:

• Balance the accounts with ad hoc corrections following an aggressive revenue and prudent spending policy.
• Ignore the long-term costs and consequences associated with ongoing actions.
• Maintain excess assets and funding as needed to a sustainable level.
• Exceed the surpluss in the public finance accounts, rather than tracking a reserve for future deficits or investment needs.
• Override or manipulate funding status pensions or future investment obligations.
• Overestimating returns and allocating excess funds to discretionary projects without having a proper consensus and analysis of project benefits and opportunity costs.
• Skip continuous monitoring and control public finance accounts on an autonomous and consolidated basis.

🥀 Key trend in public finances

With the dominant and widely accepted means of digital transactions and information storage at the individual and collective levels, digitization is essential to reshape public finances by improving government methods of collecting, processing, sharing and using information. .

A quality, well-managed information system helps develop policies effective public finances. It also contributes to the ongoing management, administration and compliance of underlying public finance policies.

The government and public associations are required to create effective channels to update and store digital information and content in order to extract the potential benefits from the storage, use and analysis of digital information in the field of public finances.

The main underlying risks and challenges such as data security, confidentiality, fraud and evasion which limit capacity must be taken into account when going digital in public finances.

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