Badakhshan Town Hall Meeting On Public Engagement in National Budget

On August 31, 2020, the government advisory team held a meeting with the people of Badakhshan to include their needs in the national budget of FY-1400. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Sayed Nasir Ahmad, General Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance.

The meeting was attended by provincial government representatives, the provincial council, district governors, heads of various departments, Ulema Council representatives, civil society, development councils’ representatives, youth, both male and female.

“To ensure transparency and accountability, achieving balanced development, strengthening local governance,improving service delivery, achieving good governance, and allocating effective and balanced financial resources across the country are strategic goals of the government. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has recently taken a series of measures in the areas of arranging provincial budgeting policy, allocating unconditional funds for the provinces, and establishing public financial management committees at the provincial level to address the people’s need,” said Sayed Nasir Ahmad, Director General of Budget.

“These meetings will provide the ground to prioritize the needs, including development projects (PDP Provincial Development Plans) and give people another opportunity to make their final decision within the financial ceiling provided to them,” he added.

“The budget ceiling for Badakhshan province has been set at 108.5 million Afghanis annually, this is calculated based on the population and poverty rate. In coordination with the provincial authority, districts and provincial development councils, you will decide in which cases you want to spend the funds.I must remind you that this amount is in addition to the budget that will be allocated for major national projects; this 108.5 million Afghanis is allocated for small and public utility projects; you elders have the authority to allocate these funds for multiple projects. The projects that remain above the ceiling due to financial constraints will be implemented in the coming years,” he further stated.

Necessary information was provided to the participants through a presentation by the technical team of the Ministry of Finance. In addition, peoples’ opinions, comments, and suggestions were noted and their questions were answered by the General Director of Budget.