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“Stretching the Public Purse”: What Does It Mean in Terms of Government Accounting?

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Public Sector Accounting, Financial Accountability and Viability in Times of Crisis

Part of the book series: Public Sector Financial Management ((PUSEFIMA))

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Abstract

“Stretching the Public Purse: Budgetary Responses to a Global Pandemic” is the title of the special issue of the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management that was compiled in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas the special issue looked at the pandemic from a budgetary perspective, the aim of this chapter is to look at the issues from a government accounting perspective and asks what government accounting can contribute to the financial analysis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Both the financial statements of the SPVs and those of the different Departments can be retrieved online.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Germany

    Jens Heiling & Dmitrij Cesniuk

  2. University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Tim Meglitsch

Authors
  1. Jens Heiling
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  2. Dmitrij Cesniuk
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  3. Tim Meglitsch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens Heiling .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Accounts Directorate, National Statistical Office (ISTAT), Rome, Italy

    Giovanna Dabbicco

  2. Department of Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Marco Bisogno

  3. Department of Accountancy Faculty of Economics Management and Accountancy, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

    Josette Caruana

  4. Department of Accounting Corporate Finance and Taxation, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Johan Christiaens

Annex

Annex

Table 7.4 Countries within the scope of this study
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Table 7.5 Cases and deaths reported as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as of the end of December 2020
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Table 7.6 Selected economic indicators for 2020 for the four countries
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Table 7.7 Major measures taken by reserve banks and other financial institutions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
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Table 7.8 Major legislative measures taken by the respective governments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
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Table 7.9 Analysis of the Australian Government’s operating statement
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Table 7.10 Analysis of the New Zealand Government’s statement of financial performance
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Table 7.11 Analysis of the US Government’s statement of operations and changes in net position/statement of net cost
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Table 7.12 Analysis of the Australian Government’s balance sheet
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Table 7.13 Analysis of the New Zealand Government’s statement of financial position
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Table 7.14 Analysis of the US Government’s balance sheets
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Table 7.15 Analysis of the German Government’s balance sheet
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Heiling, J., Cesniuk, D., Meglitsch, T. (2022). “Stretching the Public Purse”: What Does It Mean in Terms of Government Accounting?. In: Dabbicco, G., Bisogno, M., Caruana, J., Christiaens, J. (eds) Public Sector Accounting, Financial Accountability and Viability in Times of Crisis. Public Sector Financial Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04745-9_7

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