The Core Proposition of the Treasury Reform and Assignment of Power and Responsibility

Abstract

The modern treasury system is the core component of the modern fiscal institution, but it draws little attention and is rarely discussed by domestic academics, until the now-present there still lacks of appropriate discourse. In practice, the functional imbalance of the current treasury system in China is very obvious. One prominent problem is the looseness and vulnerability of budget execution control, which has given rise to the ubiquitous phenomenon of public fund precipitation, frequent budgetary adjustment, tardy payment schedule, and cash rationing. Another problem is the high-level decentralization of government cash balance caused by indiscriminate special fiscal account setup，and the decentralization has greatly weakened the core functions of the national treasury. This paper will clarify two core propositions of institutional reform of the state treasury, including the whole-process budget execution control based on the expenditure cycle, and the government cash management based on the centralization of cash balances. It is expected to construct an appropriate framework of the assignment of power and responsibilities for the treasury system, and promote the deepen reform of the state treasury, building up the coordinating roles of the Ministry of Finance and the People’s Bank of China in the modern fiscal institution and supporting the modern treasury system functions.