The Government Budget : A Critical Appraisal with Reference to Transparency and Accountability

Budget is the major economic policy document of the government for a particular year and perhaps beyond. Therefore, it is imperative to study the processes, institutional mechanisms, and decision-making criteria of the national budget. Since ‘money talks’ (and perhaps walks as well) budget attracts the attention of people from all walks of life, because it affects every citizen of the country either directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously. Budget is the ‘rule of law’ in public finance1 . Since the citizens, through direct and indirect taxes, finance the running of the state machinery it is imperative for the governments to reveal why and how public money is spent on public goods and services in order to enhance the welfare of the people. Therefore, representatives of the people in parliament are duty bound to properly understand the nature, extent, and implications of budget proposals presented to parliament prior to approval.