Budget making is an art

This refers to 'the KPK budget' carried by the newspaper yesterday. After the presentation of annual budgets by Punjab and Sindh assemblies, the assemblies of KPK and Balochistan also unveiled their budgets. The newspaper has rightly pointed out, among other things, the fact that "what has sadly become the hallmark of all provincial governments is to sustain their heavy reliance on the federal divisible pool (and hydel profits that remain pending in case of KPK) which is circulated on the basis of an unrealistic assessment of not only the growth rate of the economy but also in terms of the capacity of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)."
No doubt, the newspaper has carried out a perfect excision of national and provincial budgets. Our budget makers must always remember that there are three essentials of any budget, and those don't change. Budgeting is part artistic endeavour and part science. The budget makers are always required to strike a delicate balance between receipts and expenditures. PML-N governments are said to be good at appreciation of art of budget making. It is widely argued that making a budget is the only practical way to get a grip on government expenditure as a budget is a great way to take control of its finances. The PML-N government has, however, failed to prove that it has the ability to contain or reduce the government expenditures.