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 executive 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. Federal Budget 2011-2012 was presented to the Parliament on June 3, 2011. This paper, prepared especially for the benefit of the Parliamentarians looks at main contours of the Budget 2011-2012 and will serve as a backgrounder to PILDAT Briefing for Parliamentarians on How to effectively participate in Parliamentary Budget Debate? scheduled at the start of the budget debate so as to equip MPs to make an effective and useful contribution while reviewing the budget before its passage. 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 countrywide reform programmes related to Financial Management. He works with Abacus Consulting, 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.
