Enhancing the Role of Parliament in the Budget-Making Processes

Abstract

A budget is an important financial plan that provides a framework for the effective allocation of resources and is thus vital for ensuring effective public financial management. Parliaments play a critical role in ensuring that budgets deliver their intended outcomes. It is the responsibility of Parliaments to exercise oversight roles over the executives’ budget proposals, scrutinise budget information, and depending on the government system in place, approve, amend, or draft a new budget. The aim of this paper is to explore mechanisms that can be used to enhance the role of Parliament in budget-making processes by focusing on gender budgeting, budget reforms, and capacity building through the establishment of Independent Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as Parliamentary Budget Offices (PBOs) as mechanisms of enhancement. Based on the aim of this paper, the researcher chose to use a descriptive research design and employed a desktop research approach through a literature review. The relevant data was collected from various sources such as books, journals, and the internet. The online sources included in the academic database and government portals containing information relating to Parliaments, budgeting processes, and budget management. The findings suggest that Parliament plays an important role in ensuring that a budget is transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs and demands of the public, including women and marginalised groups. It is also evident that some of the main challenges faced by Parliament to ensure an effective budgeting process include limited resources, political interference, and inadequate public participation. The study concludes that parliamentary involvement during the budget-making process is critical and therefore recommends strengthening the institutional capacity of Parliament, promoting public participation in the budget process, and ensuring gender-responsive budgeting in all stages of the budget cycle. Keywords: Parliament; Budget; Budget-making processes