Report points out shortcomings in budgeting process

DIR: The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI ) has released the second annual report on the “State of Budget Transparency in Pakistan which has pointed out shortcomings in the budgeting process at the federal and provincial levels.

The report called for budget proposals to be widely discussed with civil society groups, government agencies and key stakeholders.

It said monthly, quarterly or annual reports on budget implementation should be shared with the public and audit uploaded on the Auditor General’s official websites on regular basis.

This was stated by Citizens Network for Budget Accountability (CNBA), a partner organization of CPDI after one day workshop.

The workshop was organized by CNBA here in Dir.

Zeeshan Khan Shinwari, Arshad Abidi and Anwer Zeb said that the participation of citizens in the budgeting process gave the legal protection and government agencies should be required to consult the citizens during the various stages of the budget-making process.

They said in particular, the role of MPAs is enhanced during budget formulation and its implementation. The representatives said CPDI has been working to improve the budgeting process in Pakistan from the district to the federal level to promote transparency.

The second report based on “State of Budget Transparency in Pakistan 2021” not only examines budget transparency in Pakistan but also helps the effectiveness of access to information laws in Pakistan in obtaining budget information.

The first section of the report deals with requests for information to various federal ministries and provincial departments, seeking information about the various stages of the budgeting process.

The second section examines the comprehensiveness of budget documents and citizen participation in budgeting.

In this regard, 152 requests for information, of which 38 to the federal, 28 to Balochistan, 29 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 28 to Punjab and 29 to Sindh were sent to selected federal ministries and provincial departments to test reactive disclosure in the budgeting process.

Surprisingly, not a single response to any of these requests was received within the stipulated time which was very disappointing.

It was noted that participation of citizens in budgeting, legislature oversight, duration of the budget debate in parliaments and equitable budgeting are required to be addressed.

In addition, there is no mechanism for issuing quarterly, half-yearly or annual reports by any government while audit reports have not been regularly uploaded on the Auditor General’s websites.

Zeeshan Shinwari said the governments do not provide revised estimates timely with concerned stakeholders but are presented during the budget approval process.

He demanded that the provincial and federal governments should ensure the implementation of access to information laws and remove obstacles to promote budget transparency and accountability.

In addition, the period for discussion and approval of the budget should be extended so that it could be discussed in detail.