Program Policy

The budget as a policy document could be used to measure qualitative and quantitative efficiencies of a program. Efficiency measures the outputs -- qualitative and quantitative -- in relation to the inputs. It is an economic term which signifies that the program uses the least costly resources possible in order to achieve the desired results. This generally requires comparing alternative approaches to achieving the same outputs, to see whether the most efficient process has been adopted. When evaluating the efficiency of a program, it is useful to consider the following questions:
• Were activities cost-efficient?
• Were objectives achieved on time?
• Was the program implemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives?