ramework (World Bank, 2001). However, there is increasing evidence that weak or absent public financial management functions and institutions are likely to negate any advantages that might be inherent in bringing public services "closer" to local communities.
The underpinnings of public financial management relate to the basic institutional and procedural elements that might be enshrined in a constitution, or higher level laws on the budget, or laws or agreements governing subnational operations or levels of indebtedness. In some countries, such as South Africa, where the process has been nicely sequenced, there is a set of consistent and well designed legislation covering all the areas mentioned above.
In order for any level of government to take responsibility for its actions, there must be clarity in its functions, its mechanisms for appropriating funds and prioritizing and authorizing spending, and ensuring that the spending is actually carried out and accounted for. Another critical aspect relates to timely and accurate reporting to the respective legislature and any higher levels of administration. In short, questions would need to be posed concerning the transparency and account

中央政府在透明的公共財政管理過程中，需要地方一級機構的配合，這反映了其職能的需要，同時為了能和地方政府創(chuàng)造更好的下放管理效率，確保良好的問責制和競爭機制是關鍵因素。此外國家債務這樣一因素對整個宏觀經(jīng)濟穩(wěn)定有著影響，中央政府要特別關注國內(nèi)債務的監(jiān)測和管理。
在實際問題上，地方一級有是否有良好的最終有效的公共財務管理治理取決于成功或失敗的不同政策選擇。雖然有一系列有關地方財務和“財務規(guī)則”的文獻表明已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)不太重視公共財務管理的重要治理方面的情況（見波特1997年，月夜，2001）。這一疏忽部分原因可能是由于權力下放，以及以社區(qū)為基礎的產(chǎn)生有效和公平的支出決策所導致的。