Sindh budget likely to be delayed: departments fail to start BM-2 documentation

The Sindh budget for 2008-09 may be delayed as the documentation of the Budget Management Form (BM-2) has not been started yet in various departments, it has been reliably learnt.
Sources at the finance department informed Business Recorder on Friday the delay in the documentation of the form, being used to ascertain the budget demands of the departments for next fiscal year, will also harm the preparation of the budget. Sources said the forms have already been issued to almost all the departments early this month.
The finance department is responsible for asking each department for its estimated expenditures for the next fiscal year before preparing the budget document that usually starts early April. For the purpose, the BM-2 form is issued to these departments till the end of December every year. The forms are usually received by the finance department till the end of March.
The sources revealed that the issuance of the forms also could not take place in time ie December 31, due to the deteriorating law and order situation following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. According to the sources, the process of compiling of estimated expenditures for the next financial year and filing of the forms by the departments takes 2-3 months.