• To become 'budget literate' and to see the importance of the budget as a policy instrument in relation to poverty alleviation; • To develop the technical capacity to understand the story behind the numbers and to develop and use techniques to do budget analysis; • To undertake budget related work; • To use the fiscal space. [...] Development of UDN’s budget work • UDN has been heavily involved in the mobilisation of citizens to influence budgetary processes; • Under the leadership of UDN, the Budget Advocacy Initiative (BAI) was formed with 15 member CSOs, in 1999; • The overall goal of BAI is to increase the citizen’s participation in the budgetary process; • The BAI was promoted to take advantage of opportunities provide. [...] Law of finance: a general notion • The law of finance anticipates the state’s resources and spending for the current year; • The amended law of finance intervenes during the budget year, in order to adjust budgetary expectations in relations to economic fluctuations; • The settlement law allows the appreciation of the reality of the budget execution and to evaluate the difference between expectati. [...] The budget, • The budget is the accounting entity of the law of finance; • The general state budget is an exhaustive accounting document, relating every financial activity of the state; • The additional budgets; • The special accounts treasury. [...] • There are problems at the settlement law level, including delays that are too long and the need to restore its role of management and rectification; • Debate in parliament is undermined by: o Parliamentarians lack of capacity to read and understand the budget properly, o The politicisation of the parliament, o The lack of will from the parliamentarians.
- Pages
- 58
- Published in
- Port Elizabeth, South Africa
