Rs 3,000
The national budget, representing the government’s fiscal, financial and economic objectives, serves as the most important policy document of a country. Through the appropriation of the budget, the Parliament empowers the government to raise the revenues and other funds required to finance the delivery of public services. Parliamentary control and scrutiny of the budget, therefore, is one of Parliament’s most important powers. Parliament is the appropriate place to ensure that the budget best matches the nation’s needs with available resources. Such an exercise demands detailed engagement of the Parliament and Parliamentary Standing Committees, the real engines behind Parliamentary work and efficiency, with the budget for its analysis and scrutiny. This paper serves as a guide for Parliamentary Standing Committees on how to understand and scrutinize the budget to make sure it reflects 3 principles of good budgeting including fiscal discipline, state priorities and value for money. The paper is authored by Mr. Nohman Ishtiaq who is a public financial management specialist and is currently advising the Federal Government and the Government of Khyber PakhtunKhuwa. He has helped the Government in implementing country-wide reform programmes related to Financial Management. He works with AbacusConsulting, Pvt. Ltd, a premier management consulting company in Pakistan as a Director. Professionally he is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Management Accountant from the United Kingdom.
