Somaliland Budget: Fiscal Year 2007, By. Ibrahim Adam Qalib

In my article today about the budget of Somaliland for the fiscal year 2007, I am not displaying statistical information or data of the actual revenue and expenditure for comparison but I will highlight the practical considerations common to all budgets.  

A budget is a benchmark for measuring of your operations in fiscal terms. You should prepare a budget based on historical information, trends, conditions, variations and the condition of the economy. Last year’s budget information is to be examined in
order to identify the trends and variations from your expectations.

Reflecting the budget in this way will make it more meaningful when results are compared with the budget. In addition the abstract account prepared by the office of the Accountant general showing the actual revenue and expenditure incurred of last should be examined. From here you will know exactly where the money has been spent and if need be the vouchers and warrants sent to the regions can be examined from the accounts of the six regions.

The Ministry of finance did not submit the information to the parliament and in here, there is every reason for suspicion. Most of the budget is spent in the ministries and there is a lot of corruption involved. This year’s budget should meet the above criteria as pre-requisite condition in order to safeguard the limited resources of the country.

The parliament was new last year and they passed the budget to give the government the benefit of the doubt only, otherwise the budget was not at all correct. A budget will never be perfect and those who prepare it should do the best they can without adding biased information and then utilize it as one measurement of success of the government’s programmatic activities.  The parliament and the executive agreed last year that the budget for fiscal year 2007 to be submitted in July 2006 in order to examine the information mentioned above well in time.

The Ministry of finance did not submit these documents so far and this will cause chaos between the parliament and the Ministry. On the other hand there was a balance of deposits from the budget of 2005 and the parliament made an attachment to the budget increasing the salaries by 30 percent to the employees. This increase has been denied by the Ministry of Finance. This money should be accounted and integrated in the accounting system of the country. It is the duty of the parliament to pursue and enquire the whereabouts of this money and why the instructions attached to the budget and approved by the president is not carried out by the Ministry of Finance.

Ibraahim Qalib;   kaalib33@hotmail.com

Borama, Somaliland