Rs 3,000
The Parliamentary Budget Process in Pakistan is recognised as suffering from a number of weaknesses, highlighted by Parliamentarians, civil society groups and the media over the past several years. There is a need for reform of the Parliamentary Budget Process in Pakistan, to ensure that it is made more participatory, informed and effective, thus strengthening Pakistan’s democracy and institutions. Even though some reforms have been introduced during the on-going term in the National Assembly of Pakistan and some in the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, smooth operationalisation of those, as well as more comprehensive reforms are required to enable Pakistan’s elected representatives to carry out an effective scrutiny and oversight of public budget at the centre and the provinces. PILDAT has been working to strengthen the Parliamentary Budget Process in Pakistan since 2002. It helped facilitate a bipartisan consensus that has resulted in the current movement forward on required reforms. This paper provides a summary of the current status of Parliamentary Budget Process in Pakistan. The paper draws on earlier publications of PILDAT on the subject to present the current status.
