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- Classification of the functions of government / (COFOG)
Classification of the functions of government / (COFOG)
Definition
The expenses of general government are ventilated according to an international classification defined in the system of national accounts of 1993 and revised in 1999: COFOG (Classification of the Fonctions of Government). This classification distributes the expenses of general government in ten categories according to their purpose: general public utilities; defense; public order and security; economic business; environmental protection; accommodation and community facilities; health; leisure activities, culture and cult; education; social welfare.
The field of the public administrations and the amount of the expenses are the ones of the national accounts. Formally, the expenses of interests of the debt, when the purpose of these expenses of interests cannot be distinguished, are recorded in the function " general public utilities ". So, the interests of the debt of the State are recorded as "general public utilities", while those paid by the Social Security administrations are distributed between health and social welfare, the two only functions which they serve. The affectation of the transfer's expenses (current transfers or in capital) is made according to the expense which it finances when it is known. Should the opposite occur, she represents formally " general public utilities ".
The sharing, delicate, between expenses of health and social welfare can damage the comparability of the international results. Are recorded, in the French figures:
- In health, the expenses concerning the care of health care (reimbursement of medical consultations and pharmaceutical products);
- In social welfare, transfers in cash in the households intended to compensate for the losses of income due to the disease and to the industrial accidents (daily allowances).
