WINDHOEK – The next few weeks and months are among the busiest on the fiscus agenda as authorities knuckle down to conclude the technical budget hearing process by the end of October.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Ericah Shafudah, has called on the pubic to become more involved in the formulation of the national budget and the accompanying Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2015/16 to 2017/18.
“We rarely obtain feedback from the public. We need to know where we are doing well in terms of spending or where we are not. The public need to participate in the budget formulation process, to make both proposals and suggest solutions,” said Shafudah on Friday during budget hearings with the National Planning Commission (NPC) and regional representatives.
“The key principles underpinning our budget formulation process are inclusiveness, transparency and accountability. It is from this perspective that our government accords great significance to the budget formulation process and no single Namibian should feel left out,” remarked Shafudah. To encourage public participation the Treasury has published a Citizen’s Budget Booklet, translated into vernacular languages and disseminated widely around the country.
In 2003 the Ministry of Finance introduced the MTEF methodology to budgeting, which constitutes formulation of a comprehensive statement of government expenditure allocation by programmes and activity as well as expected outputs for up to two years beyond the budget year.
The MTEF is accompanied by estimates of revenue and expenditure, which provide detailed expenditure allocation by vote and functions and is publicly debated and approved by parliament.
“By providing full disclosure of all detailed budgetary allocation plans two years in advance, government accords the general public ample opportunity to scrutinize various expenditure proposals and propose alternative solutions, thus allowing the citizenry and the legislature to influence the budget formulation for the subsequent years,” said Shafudah.
In addition, a comprehensive accountability report, detailing the outputs realized during the preceding financial year is prepared and availed to the public for scrutiny. “Unfortunately, we barely obtain feedback from the readers,” noted Shafudah.
Namibia’s open budget process is guided by a budget calendar and well defined macroeconomic and fiscal policy objectives as provided for in the national development plans and budget policy frameworks.
According to the calendar, high level budget hearings with ministers was concluded at the end of September. The budget hearings at technical vote levels now taking place are scheduled to continue until end of October. This process tasks the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission to hear detailed motivation and thorough scrutiny of expenditure proposals by both operational and capital expenditure vote. Then from November to December the Treasury and the NPC draft the budget books, which is followed by an announcement of the date when the budget is tabled before parliament. “The month of January 2015 is only left for polishing up and updating our projections according to latest developments and any other feedback that might have arisen from consultations,” concluded Shafudah.