Budgetary Mismanagement: A Qualitative Study of the Malaysian Public Sector

Abstract

The public gets flabbergasted with various issues of budgetary mismanage-ment that keeps surfacing over the years in the public sector. The Auditor General Reports have highlighted three core issues of budgetary mismanagement which regularly surround the public sector – especially in overspending, shortfall and bunching expenditure. The public sector’s budgetary management remains dreary despite the numerous efforts and initiatives employed by the government to improve its performance. Indeed, it is obvious that some of the initiatives and efforts introduced have proven less potent in bringing any significant wave of change in the public sector’s budgetary management. This study aims to explore numerous factors that lead to the persistent prevalence of budgetary mismanagement in the public sector. Six federal government institutions were selected, while interviews and focus group discussions were conducted as platforms to obtain the relevant feedback from 28 public officials who were directly involved in budgetary management. To comprehend further, the contextual descriptions which influence the performance of public organisations from both mechanical and behavioural perspectives are also discussed.