Introduction to Budgeting


    I would like to thank the International Budget Partnership for the information
    on the subject of budgeting that appears on their web site at http://www.
    internationalbudget.org/.

    We have borrowed some large elements from their site in our own
    presentation and we acknowledge their valuable contribution.

    We present our case for budgeting participation in Lebanon in the following
    sequence:

    1)        Definition – A definition of the Budget and the budgeting process

    2)        Why Budgeting? – A review of the principle objectives of the
    budgeting process and its merits and advantages

    3)        Who will budget? – A description of the persons and the
    organizations who should be involved in the budgeting process alongside
    the public authorities, and the reasons for inviting them in.

    4)        Monitoring – In Lebanon the monitoring process is sorely lacking
    throughout the entire public administration though it is an essential element
    for the ultimate success of the national budgeting project.

    5)        Follow up with Ministries – At all the stages of the budgeting
    process, Civil Society should maintain close contact with the different
    Ministries concerned with the collection and the disbursements of
    resources, not only the Ministry of Finance.

    6)        Follow up with Parliament –To obtain an optimum usage of public
    funds, Civil Society should work in close coordination with the elected
    representatives of the people, and particularly the parliamentary
    commissions concerned.

    7)        Budgeting and Planning – Can a Nation budget effectively without a National
    Plan?



    Definitions of budgeting


    The following definitions of budget and budgeting found in Wikipedia apply
    equally to persons, companies or nations.

    A budget is a financial document used to project future income and
    expenses. The budgeting process may be carried out by individuals or by
    companies to estimate whether the person/company can continue to
    operate with its projected income and expenses.
CPI The Lebanese Center for Public Information
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21. Introduction to budgeting?