• Initiate the preparation of the draft general budget law and draft government units budgets law for the fiscal year 2018, which were approved by Law No. (1) for the year 2018, General Budget Law for the fiscal year 2018 and Law No. (2) for the year 2018, government units Budgets Law for the fiscal year 2018 on 15/1 / 2018, and were published in the Official Gazette on 16/1/2018 serial number (5496).

• Follow up the preparation of draft Government Ministries, Departments and Units Manpower by-law for the fiscal year 2017.It has been approved as per by-law no. (55) for 2017, Government Ministries, Departments and Units Manpower by-law for the fiscal year 2017 on 10/5/2017. It has been published in the Official Gazette on 8/6/2017 Serial No. (5466).
• Initiate the preparation of Draft Government Ministries, Departments and Units Manpower by-law for the fiscal year 2018, in conjunction with the preparation of the Draft General Budget Law and Draft Government Units Budgets Law for 2018.

The General Budget Department prepared monthly reports on the performance of the General Budget during 2017, including the assessment of the General Budget Performance during 2017 compared to 2016.

In context of the government's follow-up to the recommendations of the financial committee in the lower House and the financial and economic committee in the upper House, the General Budget Department prepared a special matrix to answer the recommendations of the Financial Committee in the lower House and the recommendations of the financial and Economic Committee in the upper House on the Draft General Budget Law and Draft Government units Budgets Law for the fiscal year 2017. The matrix identified the recommendation, its subject, the party concerned with the response and the measures taken by the concerned authorities and provided to both lower and upper Houses.

• In accordance with the requirements of the executive plan to strengthen the national integrity system for the implementation of the projects which the GBD is responsible of their implementation, the Department made a quarterly report on the progress of work in projects that GBD is responsible of their implementation. These projects include the preparation of budgets based on the results-oriented budget, and a quarterly review of the government capital expenditure, including a comparison of completion rates and the size of expenditure, taking into account the sources of funding for each, and creation of a mechanism to ensure the linking the operation of approving budgets and manpower tables simultaneously, and study the independent institutions with regard to their budgets, resources and number of staff in these institutions, and how much they are needed as well as re-distribute employees and find suitable mechanisms to deal with the surplus number, the projects included also finding a mechanism to increase level of coordination between Audit Bureau and GBD before allocating the appropriations of stumbling projects which didn’t realize their objective in order to identify reasons of stumbling and to enhance accountability and decide on the feasibility of continuing their appropriations.

• Follow up the implementation of modern concepts and methodologies in budget management in terms of Gender Responsive Budget (GRB) and child-friendly budget. Where the hypotheses that were based on in the preparation of the draft general budget law and draft government units budgets law for 2018 included "allocating the financial appropriations necessary for the implementation of strategic projects in the sectors of transport, energy, education, health, water, roads and telecommunications" and "continuing the monitoring of financial appropriations necessary for the implementation of projects which emanate from the National Strategy for Jordanian Women's Affairs in the budgets of ministries, departments and government units according to priorities and available financial resources” And "to allocate the necessary financial appropriations to carry out the tasks and obligations resulting from executing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities law". The General Budget Department also took into account the needs of women and children by highlighting the financial allocations necessary to meet these needs in the draft general budget law for the fiscal year 2018 in line with the concept of Gender Responsive Budget.
• With regard to the promotion of human rights in the Kingdom, and in accordance with human rights concepts integration approach when formulating the general budget of the state and in order to achieve the objectives of ministries and departments and government units and as implementation of  their strategic plans to provide better services to citizens, which contribute mainly to the promotion of human rights represented by the right of security, social protection, health, education and entertainment, the GBD was keen when preparing the Draft of General Budget Law and draft of Government Units Budgets Law for the fiscal year 2018 to allocate the required financial appropriations for Ministries, Departments and Government Units to enhance citizens right in light of available financial resources, whereas the GBD depended on a number of directions in preparing the Draft of General Budget Law for the fiscal year 2018, most notably” continue the implementation of Comprehensive National Plan for Human Rights aiming at enhancing the Human rights system in the Kingdom, and continue the implementation of the national strategy for Jordanian woman to help enabling the woman in all life affairs”, “ promoting social safety net and sending support to its beneficiaries from limited and medium income”, and “ establishing integrity standards to create anti-corruption national environment and strengthening ethical and behavioral values, building good governance frameworks, promoting transparency and accountability, fairness, equality and equal opportunity, and dedicating the enforcement of integrity and anti-corruption law as a basis for the principle of the rule of law.
• The General Budget Department issued its new strategic plan for the years 2017-2019. The plan reflects the directions of the General Budget Department during the plan years to keep abreast of developments and updates in the field of public financial management reform and adoption of good international practices and modern methodologies in the preparation and implementation of the budget to achieve national objectives, priorities and strategic objectives of the department as well as to deepen the fundamental values ​​of the department.
• In the preparation of the budget of 2018, the inclusion of a new item within the budget under the title of social safety net / cash support for its beneficiaries of 171 million dinars in 2018 in the context of the trend to support Jordanian citizen instead of goods support. The general budget law for the fiscal year 2018 included the title of “Public Security and Safety Agency”, which includes public security services, gendarmerie and civil defense forces.
• Its expenditure items were classified according to the classification of the items in the chart of accounts. All government units, whether applying the government financial system or not applying it, have applied the provisions of the general budget law with regard to the transfer of financial allocations in order that all government units commit to the allocations and the purposes specified in the Government Units Budgets Law for 2018, and to avoid any distortions in the budgets and expenditure control.
• Cooperate with government units’ budgets transparency and accountability enhancement and financial needs assessment project funded by the British Embassy to promote and develop the strategic objectives and key performance indicators for Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Transport. And analyze the current situation of the work environment in the government agencies and civil society institutions.
• In order to strengthen the capacities of budget analysts and promote their role in the field of financial analysis to deepen the implementation of Results-Oriented Budget, the General Budget Department in cooperation with the European Union conducted a training for budget analysts and economic researchers on analysis methods of government units budgets and the preparation of reports in this regard, they were trained by EU experts on methods of financial analysis, analysis of balance sheets and associated types of analysis.

• Issuing the document "Citizen's Guide of the General Budget for the fiscal year 2017" in order to strengthen channels of communication and fortify mutual trust between citizen and government and promote informed participation in the General Budget affairs. The document reflects the Department’s commitment to enhance transparency on the size and structure of the Kingdom's revenues and expenditures, in addition to enabling the Jordanian citizen to access as much budget-related information and data as possible that will allow him to identify the size of financial allocations directed to the economic sectors and public services that directly impact the daily life of citizens, leading to full understanding of public spending sources and objects of its spending.    
• Jordan scored 63 percent in the Budget Transparency criterion within Open Budget index (OBI) survey for 2017 conducted in Washington by the International Budget Partnership Organization (IBP) in Washington, this percent is 8 points higher than the previous score of the survey conducted by the Organization for the year 2015 which reached 55%. Jordan ranked the first position in the Middle East and North Africa and ranked 24 among 115 countries surveyed in 2017. The survey is conducted once every two years. This progress came as a result of developments and improvements made during the last two years on the procedures of General Budget preparation, details and quality of data and information contained in the budget documents and related issued reports.
• In order to provide greater transparency in the process of general budget preparation, the General Budget Department published the Draft of General Budget Law and the Draft of Government Units Budgets Law for the fiscal year 2018 after they were published on the Department’s website so that everyone can see and make comments about them.

In the year 2017, the General Budget Department prepared the Twelfth Annual Report for the year 2016. The report included the developmental role of the general budget and the strategy of the General Budget Department and the services provided by the Department in addition to the achievements of the Department and its future aspirations.

The General Budget Law and the Government Units Budgets Law for the fiscal year 2017 have been translated into English and published on the Department's website. Work has also begun on the translation of the draft General Budget Law and draft Budgets Law of Government Units for the fiscal year 2018.

• Prepare the Audit Procedures Manual and the Monitoring Action Plan annually and take the approval of the Director General and His Excellency the Minister as appropriate.
• Prepare monthly monitoring reports and an annual report to be submitted to His Excellency Minister of Finance as appropriate.
• Raise monitoring reports to His Excellency Director General to identify errors and negatives and follow up their correction.
• Conduct sudden monitoring visits (financial, administrative, and technical) to all the directorates and divisions of the Department and identify errors if any, and mechanism of correction. 

Start the implementation of decentralization approach through preparing capital budgets for governorates and including them in the General Budget for 2018 in order to expand the participation of local communities in determining developmental needs and priorities of governorates, thus helping to distribute the benefits of development to all the governorates of kingdom.
For the first time, the financial appropriations of the capital budgets of the governorates, which represent new projects of 220 million dinars or 19% of total capital expenditures, were allocated and draft budgets for the governorates were included in budget 2018. Financial appropriations were allocated to sustain the work of governorates councils which amounting (3) million Dinars in budget 2018.

In an effort to deepen the concept of Results-Oriented Budget and to complete the requirements of this concept through finding an effective mechanism to follow up and evaluate the performance indicators of government ministries and departments, and in the context of strengthening partnership between government ministries and departments of one hand and the General Budget Department on the other hand, with cooperation  of  the USAID-funded Fiscal Reform Project ( FRP), a workshop was held to strengthen the capacities of budget analysts in the field of performance indicators review and analysis as well as  enhancing Results-Oriented Budgeting implementation concept.
The General Budget Department, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the USAID-funded Fiscal Reform Project (FRP) held three awareness and training workshops for the administrative governors and their assistants, the staff of local development directorates and the executive directors in the governorates in the three regions of the Kingdom, Northern region (Irbid, Al-Mafraq, Jerash, Ajloun), Central Region (the Capital, Balqa’, Zarqa, Madaba) Southern Region (Al-Karak, Maan, Tafila, Aqaba) during which the procedures guide to the preparation of the governorates budgets for 2018 which was prepared by the General Budget Department in cooperation with the FRP are explained. In order to facilitate the task of approving municipalities draft budgets for 2018 by the governorates councils, the General Budget Department, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the USAID-funded Fiscal Reform Program held meetings and interviews with the twelve governorates councils to clarify the mechanism and procedures for preparing and approving governorates budgets for 2018.

Prepare the draft of General Budget and Government Units Budgets Organic Law for 2017 in order to regulate the public money management process in the Kingdom and identify the responsibilities and roles of the official bodies in its management, monitoring, reporting and auditing. It also comes to establish the regulatory institutional foundations that will enable the preparation of the General Budget Law and Government Units Budgets Law as well as their implementation and monitoring in a manner that takes into consideration the macro framework of the national economy and to reinforce the financial stability and provide government services efficiently within specific measureable criteria and clear follow up procedures. It also comes in line with the best international practices in the comprehensiveness of legal coverage for all phases of the General Budget and government units’ budgets preparation, implementation and monitoring.
The Cabinet approved the draft law in its session held on 9/8/2017 with reasons for it and referred it to the lower House on 21/8/2017 for consideration and approval.

In this field, the following has been achieved: -

• Follow up and supervise the implementation of new jobs description and classification related to manpower tables of Ministries and Government Departments and Units.
• Provide the Department’s directorates and units with any statements and tables related the Department’s work.
• Develop the Department’s external website system and host it in the National Information Technology Center.
• Develop and follow-up the system of King Abdullah II Award for Government Performance Excellency and Transparency.
• Participate with the team formed in the GBD and assigned to prepare transfers system for the government units.
• Participate in preparing the final account for the government units in cooperation with the Ministry of finance.
• Issue reports of general budget draft law for discussions of the House of Representatives and higher management.
• Technically follow up and supervise the introduction of manpower tables’ system data and issue to the Ministries, and Government units and departments.
• Continue providing the technical support for the department’s staff through maintenance of computers, network and its accessories and follow up the provision of technical support for GFMIS users.
• Contribute to study the needs of government ministries and departments of computers and their accessories through the participation in computers procurement committee in the National Information Technology Center.
• Develop passwords policies and circulate them on the department’s staff and hold awareness workshops on the Knowledge management concepts and security and privacy information system and follow up the implementation of activities listed in Knowledge Management Strategy.
• Follow up the renewal of the department’s external website hosting contract and Internet service with the National Information Technology center and anti-viruses software license.
• Develop the new website of the department.
• Develop and follow up the department’s Solidarity Fund System.
• Technically follow up and supervise the introduction of the General Budget Law and Government Units Budgets Law data and issue them in both Arabic and English Languages.
• Technically follow up and supervise the implementation of budget tools (financial orders, transfers, virements, and financial positions).
• Uploading budget data to Excel file for the purpose of GFMIS.
• Cooperate with financial reform project to establish main servers’ room with high qualifications.
• Establish e-calendar system of the department.
• Establish an Excel database for the data of the General Budget Law and Budgets Law of government units over previous years.
  

The department participated in nearly (28) internal and external training courses and workshops during 2017 to improve the skills of its staff and enhance their capacities to perform their assigned tasks and duties optimally as follows:-