IMSciences hosts KP pre-budget consultation seminar

PESHAWAR: The Finance Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and GIZ arranged a seminar on Pre-Budget Citizens Consultations in IMSciences, Peshawar.Shabana Gul, Assistant Professor at IMSciences, moderated the session which was attended by faculty and the students.Representatives from KP’s Finance Department included Usman Khalil, S Alam; Arsalan and Jehanzeb Pervez.Shabana Gul gave a brief introduction about the budget-making process. Dr Muhammad Mohsin Khan, Director IMSciences, formally welcomed the guests and remarked that the pressing issue is that our country has more often than the not experienced budget deficit.He talked about why taxes are so important and how in our society, people are not paying enough taxes, which causes many issues.Dr Waqar, Professor of Economics at the IMSciences, gave a detailed presentation on budget and its components.He made a few suggestions to the Finance Department which could help with budget-related issues.The professor talked about the allocation of budget in different sectors and claimed that the housing sector, albeit a strength of our economy, has been ignored in budgets of the past.He suggested that the Finance Department, KP should have a Vision-Mission Statement for their budget as that will guide them in the right direction.Shabana gave a presentation on the topic of social accountability. She stated that a budget is made to serve the needs of the people.Talking about her past experiences of working with the World Bank, the erstwhile Fata and KP governments, she said strategies and annual budget plans should be aligned with each other.The representatives of the Finance Department gave own presentation, which focused on ‘’Allocation VS Utilization of Budget’’.They said the main purpose of the seminar was to promote awareness and transparency. A Skill Development Fund for the people of KP, which was in the process, came under discussion.Towards the end of the seminar, the students participated in an online survey which carried budget-oriented questions.The representatives of the Finance Department answered all the queries of the students and the faculty as well.The organisers said the seminar proved to be very informative for the students of the institute as it helped them understand the process of budgeting and the thought that goes into developing budgets.

from The News International - Peshawar http://bit.ly/2UTGdCH