The Importance of the Budget to the Citizen

The Budget is tabled each year in the Houses of Parliament and concludes on March 31, which is consistent with the /aw of the /and so that the new ¿scal year starts with an approved budget. This practice is in keeping with the governments mandate to maintain ¿scal prudence and ¿scal responsibility. What exactly is a budget? It is an estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a period of a ¿scal year, which runs from $pril 1 through to March 31 of the following year, and reacts a reading of future ¿nancial goal and conditions. $s such it is predictive in nature and it is results based. The budget is one of the most important administrative tools, as it serves as a plan of action which allocates ¿nancial resources of the government to the Ministries and it supports the programmes under each entity. Each year there is a Budget Call which occurs before 6eptember 3 , of each ¿nancial year. The Budget Call contains the economic and ¿scal parameters that guide Ministries, Departments and Agencies in preparing the Revenue and Expenditure Estimates. The Budget Cycle is another term that is used particularly during the third quarter of each ¿nancial year, and it refers to the life of a budget from creation to evaluation. The budgeting process progresses in stages as plans are made, funds are allocated and new information leads to revisions. There are four segments of the budget cycle: preparation and submission, approval, execution and audit and evaluation. The Budget Debate is important to every citizen as it outlines the programmes that are to be supported and the level of support earmarked to the various Ministries. It is also important to participate, even at the level of an observer in the process, as the government is a provider of social services to the public, and citizen participation is necessary in the process of transparency and accountability. )urther the citizen benefits from the service provided by government; and a well-functioning public sector that delivers quality public service is critical to economic growth agenda. The Budget presentation therefore represents an opportunity for the citizen to hold the government accountable for prudent ¿scal management; particularly as the revenue on which the Budget is cast in part based on taxes and fees collected from the citizens. A crucial point that needs to be made, is that as the debates ensue there ought to be a pang of moral conviction that Pows through the veins of the citizen, and in so doing persuade each citizen to make a civic commitment to pay their taxes and fees that become due and payable for public services received. The Budget Debate therefore exposes the nexus between revenue collection and ability of government to provide efficient service by the public sector. Certainly, the delivery of service within the public sector does not hinge solely on the funds collected, as there are multiplicities of factors that contribute to the quality service delivery, some of which are procedural while others are a reaction of the talent pool or the system. The citizen nonetheless has a ¿rst-hand opportunity to gain an insight into the rationale behind the Budget and can appreciate the risk to the achievement of the governments fiscal goals which are presented as a result of non-compliance, corruption and socio-economic challenges. During the Budget Debate, the members of the Houses of Parliament discuss, interrogate and ventilate the issues, rigorously dissect the statistics and data that were tabled. The documents that are tabled are The Estimates of Expenditure, The Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for Public Bodies, The Tax Expenditure Estimates, and The Medium Term Debt Management Strategy. The Revenue Measures is for most, the single most important document that everyone sits on the edge of their chair awaiting the reveal. The Revenue Measures outline the additional areas in which revenue will be raised to fund the government’s programme, and it also has a smattering of social responsibility which goes beyond a new source of revenue, such as a tax that is applied to particular consumer good or service that could when taxed redound to a social good. Citizen participation and inclusion in the process is therefore useful as it informs policies, strengthens governance and enhances transparency and accountability within the government. In so doing, government can be more responsive to citizens’ needs and preferences and as such more accountable for its performance in resource allocation and public service delivery. The Budget Debate is therefore a critical exercise that examines the methods that are to be employed to increase revenue collection and it also explains how the funds collected are to be allocated to support the social services and programmes that are required to undergird the economic growth agenda.