Public Finance Fundamentals

Public money and government: Defining money; unit of account, medium of exchange, store of value, M1, M2 and M3 money; monetary and fiscal policy, monetary policy instruments, fiscal policy; service provision based on revenue sources, particular, quasi-collective and collective services, local government rates and taxes; role players in government finance, the legislature and public finance, treasury control, the executive and public finance, the administrative and public finance. The relationship between accounting and finance: Accounting and finance, accounting conventions, balance sheet and income statement, tools of financial analysis; sources of income for government and IGFR; national, provincial and local government income and IGFR, basic principles of taxation, borrowing, inter-governmental fiscal relations according to the constitution. Contemporary reforms to S.A. public financial management: Budget reforms and managing public money through budgeting, budgeting approaches, the PFMA, treasury regulations; ethics and accountability in public financial management; privatization as a major reform in public sector management; defining privatization; methods of privatizing; advantages and disadvantages of privatizing; alternatives to privatization; privatization in South Africa; public procurement and supply chain management; public tenders; tender Boards; public procurement legislation and policy.