Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Minister for Finance Muhammad Humayun Khan has said that detailed consultations with elected public representatives for preparation of a balanced budget for the next financial year 2011-12 are underway. Addressing a pre-budget Jirga held here in a local hotel on Saturday, he stressed need for improving service delivery through better financial management and allocation of resources for the good of the people.
Members of the KP cabinet, parliamentarians and officials attended the Jirga. The minister said that the province is facing hard situation due to last year's devastating flood, and the effects of implementation of 18th Amendment the province is also faced with certain financial issues which were being tackled with steps to be sorted out in this budget.
He said this was a new tradition for making the coming budget participatory and transparent. He said that the provincial assembly represented the will of the people and this was the first time that such a pre-budget consultation was arranged for the members of the assembly. Before presenting general debate on the budget, Secretary, Finance and Secretary, P&D threw light on the preliminary measures as how to make the next budget a balanced one and acceptable to all segments of the province. They also identified the natural causes which were disturbing the budget.
The cabinet members including Wajid Ali Khan, Sitara Ayaz, Salim Khan, Aqil Shah and a large number of parliamentary leaders presented their views on the budget priorities. They actively participated in the discussions and presented many options, which if implemented could improve the conditions of the people of KP. In the light of the people's representatives a draft of recommendations was finalised which would be looked into during the preparation of the budget.
Humayun promised that suggestions of the elected representatives of the province would carefully be considered at the time of finalising the budget proposals. He said the budget format was being changed and budget would in future be related to service delivery targets. He said the Annual Development Plan had substantially increased which would contribute to economic revival of the province.
The minister finance said the interaction with the cabinet members, elected representatives and civil society was improving and was being institutionalised through new budget making processes. He announced that such interactions would continue and in the next phase consultations would take place with the members of civil society, academia and business community.
The participants welcomed the efforts of the government towards opening up a process which earlier was viewed as secretive and confidential. The pre-budget Jirga was sponsored by DFID, through the Provincial Reforms Programme. This programme is assisting the government of KP in areas of policy making, financial management, monitoring and human resource development.