Parliament and The Budget
[2003 June 1]

"The Budget is the most important economic policy tool of the Government and provides a comprehensive statement of the priorities of the nation. As the representative of the people, Parliament is the appropriate place to ensure that the Budget best matches needs with available resources."

Warren Krafchik and Joachim Wehner
The Role of Parliament in the Budgetary Process

Budgets are crucial tools in stabilising the economy, distributing income and allocating scarce fiscal resources to address competing needs. Without budgets, even the best policy will amount to very little in practice. Although many economists and international financial institutions have in the past preferred parliaments not to play a significant role in the budget process, more recently there has been a growing recognition that meaningful checks and balances are crucial for what is often summarised under the label good governance . Only effective oversight can ensure that money is prioritised in line with policy and that funds are not siphoned off or diverted during budget implementation. Emerging recognition of the importance of fiscal oversight is reflected in various codes or surveys on budget transparency, such as the Best Practices on Budget Transparency developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), budget transparency and participation surveys conducted by civil society organisations, and also, perhaps to a lesser extent, the Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


DownloadsTHE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT IN THE BUDGET PROCESS
By: Warren Krafchik and Joachim Wehner

This article investigates the role of parliamentary amendment powers in the Budget process from a comparative perspective. It is proposed that the ability of Parliament to change the Budget depends on two sets of necessary conditions: the actual configuration of powers vested in Parliament and a set of factors determining the role of committees in the Budget process. It is concluded that even if the South African Parliament were to immediately gain amendment powers in budgetary matters, committees do not yet have the capacity to effectively utilise them. The article therefore proposes the introduction of amendment powers in conjunction with a set of procedural and institutional changes
saje article.pdf

Zambia: Participation of Civil Society and Parliament in the Budget
By: Joachim Wehner, Africa Budget Project (Idasa),

Date: 12 June 2001

In December 2000, Zambia qualified for the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, with a total relief of debt service costs worth roughly US$3.8 billion. The result it a 45 per cent reduction of the projected debt service obligations between 2001-15. Any resources freed up by a reduction of debt servicing costs provide an opportunity to target additional funds at poverty alleviation. This opens up new possibilities for civil society organisations as well as Members of Parliament to contribute their unique in-sights into local needs and circumstances, and the effect of spending on the ground. This contribution is much needed to ensure that the (limited) budgetary space that has been regained will be used effectively to reduce poverty and facilitate development

Zambia CS and Parl for BW.pdf