Zambia has today, 26th February, 2013 launched the first ever Citizen's Budget. This is in line with ambitions to make government operations transparent and enable the ordinary citizen participate in the economic issues of the country. Being informed will surely get people talking and will contribute effectively to the operations of government.
By a simple definition:
By a simple definition:
"A Citizens Budget is a non-technical presentation of the Government budget which is intended to enable the public, including those who are not familiar with public finance, understand Government plans."
This is expected to inform the people in a clear and simple language on what is contained in the 2013 Budget. Considering that the Budget itself is highly technical and complex, it is mostly understand by people involved in the budget. The ordinary people barely get a grasp of the budget. You would be shocked to see what things are contained in the Budget if you have a chance to analyse it.
I agree, it is sad to see what one would have to to get all the things complied in our Budget. So next stop is finding a way that this can easily be done and presented to the public.
So the idea of Citizen's Budget has come at the right time, and at a time that Zambia needs to be more open and inclusive. A time that every ordinary person should know what the budget contains and what it will mean to him and others around him.
We have opened up the Budget to a wide spectrum of people and views. This is an improvement as now people will be seeing what is planed, what the intention is, what is expected, and the ultimate outcome. People will be able to follow the Budget in a clear and simple manner. The promise by the Minister of Finance of releasing the Citizen's Budget on an annual basis is welcome and something to smile about.
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