This paper focusses on the processes involved in responding to a costing or budget analysis request.

The purpose of these reports is to provide additional detail on the impacts of economic scenarios on the medium-term budget position, including the effects on major revenue and expenditure areas of the budget.

This PBO information paper provides a conceptual explanation of what a costing is, what a costing is designed to capture and how a costing estimate is generated. It has been prepared to improve understanding of what a costing represents and assist in the interpretation of the material that is presented in PBO costing minutes.

A key role for the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is to prepare budget quality costings of policies proposed by members of Parliament. This paper explains the PBO’s approach and sets out how and when broader economy wide effects, also referred to as second round effects, are captured in policy costings.

This consultation paper provides information on the costing process, the factors that affect the time it takes for the PBO to respond to costing requests and the framework that the PBO applies to prioritise competing demands for costing resources.