Budget Review Capabilities
Debating, amending and approving the government budget proposed by the Ministry
of Finance are critical functions of Parliament in shaping public policy.
Parliamentarians participating in this process have always struggled to obtain
the necessary financial information from the executive branch of the government
in order to fulfill their oversight responsibilities and to debate, amend and
approve a budget that meets constituent needs and demands. MPs lacked the tools
to both gather the necessary information and to appropriately utilize it in
exercising these functions. Parliamentarians are now able to properly execute
their oversight responsibilities in approving the budget using processes and
the following systems developed as part of the assistance program:
The National Budget Analysis System, a legislative budget system
compatible with the Government Budget System developed earlier for the Ministry
of Finance, provides legislators with the ability to review previous budget
expenditures and to produce statistical and comparative reports using the
proposed amounts and actual data from previous years. Budget review capacities
have been further enhanced through the use of the latest version of the system
installed in December of 2003. Efficient sharing of information is now possible
and comparative reports for proposed and actual expenditures can be easily
generated. Comparative reports for each ministry are distributed to members of
the Budget and Finance Committee prior to meetings between the committee and
ministry or agency officials, ensuring that appropriate information is
available to all committee members facilitating a fair and efficient review
process.
The Budget Preparation and
Expenditure System developed earlier for the Lebanese government is
also installed at the General Directorate of Administration and Finance of
Parliament. Use of the system allows Parliament, like other institutions, to
prepare its own budget and track annual expenditures.
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