LAKKI MARWAT: Speakers at an awareness session on the state of budget transparency and accountability on Tuesday expressed concern over hasty decisions and the alleged lack of transparency in the budget-making process in Pakistan.
They urged the relevant stakeholders to ensure citizens’ access to key budget documents and incorporate their proposals into it. The session was arranged by the community development organization with the support of the Citizen Network for Budget Accountability (CNBA) and Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) in Lakki city on Tuesday.
The participants discussed key aspects and silent features of the Budget Transparency Report of the previous financial year, saying that the findings showed that budget transparency in Pakistan remained limited and uneven, with weak public participation and gaps in accountability.
Programme Manager Inayatullah Khan said that key budget documents were not consistently made public, and that the citizens had little opportunity to influence budget priorities.
“Budgets are still not truly public in Pakistan. People are informed after decisions are made, rather than making them part of the process”, he maintained. Zafrullah Khan Advocate, Ikramullah Khan, Irfanullah and other speakers said that though budgets were presented on time, parliamentary engagement remained weak, with limited debate and insufficient scrutiny.
They said that delays on the part of the government in timely publishing expenditures and audit reports also compromised the transparency and effective oversight of the annual budget. The speakers said though overall transparency levels remained below acceptable standards, Punjab performed relatively better, followed by the federal government, while Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan lagged behind.
They said that timely sharing of budget information, meaningful public participation, and stronger accountability systems could help to improve public trust and governance.The speakers appreciated the role of CNBA in publishing research reports on federal and provincial budgets and said that the CPDI was striving to make the budget a reflection of the public’s aspirations and to align the budget-making process with international standards in Pakistan.
