National budget affects everyone - BIDPA expert

LERATO MALEKE
Correspondent | Saturday May 25, 2013 00:00

 

Speaking at an Open Budget Index seminar in Gaborone last week, Keneilwe Marata said the national budget was government's most important economic policy tool, which translates policies, political commitments and goals into tangible monetary targets.Marata's comments came after finance and development planning minister, Kenneth Matambo delivered the 2013/14 Budget Speech in Parliament recently. Many commentators, including political leaders, used broadcast, print and social media to blast the budget's relevance to ordinary Batswana, with the majority saying it was 'exclusive, too technical and irrelevant'.

The BIDPA researcher, however, says each national budget directly and indirectly affects citizens' lives and often had the greatest impact on vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the poor, rural dwellers and ethnic minorities.'The well-being and prospects of these people can hinge greatly upon government decisions on raising and spending money,' she told delegates at the seminar.'Budgets cuts tend to have the greatest impact on programmes that benefit the poor and vulnerable, as other items, such as interest on the debt, the public sector wage bill, or military expenditures, are more likely to have first claim on scarce funds.'

Among other things Marata stated that, even when funds have been allocated to specific programmes, whether for minorities, children or the disabled, weak expenditure and programme management could result in funds never reaching the intended beneficiaries. 'The lack of political power among these marginalised people to hold their government accountable is another factor in poor budget execution.'Therefore, the researcher says it is critical for societal organisations to engage in all stages in the budget cycle not only because they can contribute valuable technical skills to the process, 'but they also have connections with the community that enable them to bring critical information about the public's needs and priorities to budget debates'.She said in addition to representing the concerns of marginalised people, civil society could strengthen and support the ability of the poor and most vulnerable to participate in the budget process and advocate for themselves. According to Marata the budget cycle is more than just a single document, 'it is a year-long cycle whose different phases offer civil society varying access points to influence how public resources are raised and spent 'and ultimately the budget's desired outcomes'.

She said the budget cycle can be broken down into four major events and these include formulation, approval, execution (implementation, monitoring, and control) and lastly oversight (auditing and legislative assessment).For civil society and the public to be able to influence budget decisions and provide effective independent oversight throughout the process, Marata said they are a set of documents that should be produced and made public at each stage. 'The information in these documents should be comprehensive and accessible, and they should be made available in a timely way to support effective public participation,' she noted.Marata pointed out that a budget system that functions well is crucial to developing sustainable fiscal policies and economic growth.

'In many countries, economic problems are exacerbated by weak budget systems and faulty budget choices and given its wide-ranging implications for a country's people, the budget should be subject of significant scrutiny and debate,' she concluded.