Consistent and Uniform Treatment of Inflation Needed in Program Cost Estimates Provided to the Congress
PSAD-78-8: Published: Mar 20, 1978. Publicly Released: Mar 20, 1978.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
Inflation is continually cited as a leading cause of tremendous cost growth in Government programs in recent years. The practices followed by selected Government agencies in providing for inflation in the cost estimates of long-term major programs were examined because the long-term programs proposed by the departments and agencies are not costed on a consistent and uniform basis, and it is impossible for the Congress to compare programs.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and agency procedures do not result in uniform treatment of expected inflation or price changes in the budget and cost estimates provided to Congress. The use of uniform inflation criteria would enable Congress to make comparisons of program budgets. OMB could achieve this by: limiting the number of inflation indexes used, issuing explicit guidelines for adjusting estimates to account for inflation during the budget processing cycle, requiring annually recosted long-term program estimates consistent with prevailing prices, and requiring agencies to identify separately the effect of inflation on future program costs. An alternative would be to permit all agencies to include inflation in their long-term program cost estimates as the Department of Defense does.
Matter for Congressional Consideration
Status: Closed
Comments: Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Matter: Congress should require that OMB develop inflation policy and procedures which agencies would uniformly apply to annual program and budget estimates.
Explore the full database of GAO's Open Recommendations
»
Jul 21, 2016
IRS 2017 Budget:
IRS Could Improve Presentation of Budget Data in Its Congressional JustificationGAO-16-695: Published: Jul 21, 2016. Publicly Released: Jul 21, 2016.
Jun 23, 2016
-
Army Working Capital Fund:
Army Industrial Operations Could Improve Budgeting and Management of CarryoverGAO-16-543: Published: Jun 23, 2016. Publicly Released: Jun 23, 2016.
May 12, 2016
-
District of Columbia:
Local Budget Autonomy Amendment Act of 2012GAO-16-663T: Published: May 12, 2016. Publicly Released: May 12, 2016.
Apr 14, 2016
-
2014 Sequestration:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Transparency of Progress Toward Deficit Reduction GoalsGAO-16-263: Published: Apr 14, 2016. Publicly Released: Apr 14, 2016.
Mar 4, 2016
-
Modernizing the Nuclear Security Enterprise:
NNSA's Budget Estimates Increased but May Not Align with All Anticipated CostsGAO-16-290: Published: Mar 4, 2016. Publicly Released: Mar 4, 2016.
Oct 30, 2015
-
2013 Sequestration and Shutdown:
Selected Agencies Generally Managed Unobligated Balances in Reviewed Accounts, but Balances Exceeded Target Levels in Two AccountsGAO-16-26: Published: Oct 30, 2015. Publicly Released: Oct 30, 2015.
Sep 9, 2015
-
Pay for Success:
Collaboration among Federal Agencies Would be Helpful as Governments Explore New Financing MechanismsGAO-15-646: Published: Sep 9, 2015. Publicly Released: Sep 9, 2015.
Aug 17, 2015
-
U.S. Savings Bonds:
Future of Offering Paper Savings Bonds at Tax Time Is Uncertain, and Lower-Income Households Continue to Face Savings ChallengesGAO-15-563: Published: Jul 16, 2015. Publicly Released: Aug 17, 2015.
Jul 9, 2015
-
Debt Limit:
Market Response to Recent Impasses Underscores Need to Consider Alternative ApproachesGAO-15-476: Published: Jul 9, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 9, 2015.
Apr 27, 2015
-
Budgeting for Disasters:
Approaches to Budgeting for Disasters in Selected StatesGAO-15-424: Published: Mar 26, 2015. Publicly Released: Apr 27, 2015.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here
Explore our Key Issues on Budget and Spending
Explore our other Key Issues here
