LAKKI MARWAT: A civil society body has noted that annual budgeting in Pakistan is mostly done in traditional manner as there has been no visible effort to increase efficiency and transparency in the process of budget making.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, Community Development Organisation (CDO) executive director Haji Inayatullah Khan said annual budget represented the government’s vision about the economy, revenue collection and priority areas for spending tax and non-tax revenues.

“A democratic government prepares, approves and implements its budget in a participatory and transparent manner and ensures that people have opportunities to access relevant information and also provide their input,” he maintained.

Mr Inayatullah declared public participation in policy formulation inevitable and said that the government should ensure broad-based consultation with relevant stakeholders in budget making process.

He claimed that several issues in the budget making process highlighted by Citizen Network for Budget Accountability (CNBA), a network of 15 civil society organisations working for budget reforms and accountability, needed government’s attention for improved and more efficient results.

The CDO representative said that budget document should provide complete details of all proposed taxation and expenditure measures besides it should be made accessible to all citizens.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2020