Description

Chile’s national accounts compile different indicators to measure and compare the economy’s performance. However, these indicators are not enough to determine the purposes of public expenditure or its contribution to public policy conduct.

The author explores an alternative way to classify the government’s final consumption. The methodology is based on the recommendations of the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93) and the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM, 2001).

The new statistic will allow classifying the use of resources allocated to public institutions, according to their function. This will permit to evaluate the effectiveness of expenditure from a cost-benefit approach. In addition, it will make it possible to measure the participation of the different functions in expenditure in government final consumption.

This document presents the expenditure in government final consumption at current prices for the period 2003-2007, according to the Classification of the Functions of the Government (COFOG).