Budgeting Process Is a Waste of Time and Valuable Resources Essay

A budget is a plan for financial gumptioning an enterprise or governing body during a definite period, which is prep ard and submitted by a responsible executive to a representative body (or other duly constituted agent) whose approval and countenance ar necessary before the plan may be executed. In the case of Uganda, it is a financing plan for one year created by the president and approved by Parliament. Some scholars need argued that budgets atomic number 18 a waste of time and valuable resources.But this statement is not entirely current as the budget process has some very useful roles in world administration as shown below- Financial control. Government needs to be able to exercise control over the ministries and departs i. e. to farm sure that the ministries are keeping to plan and that necessary actions can be taken to put them back on track when needed. Government needs to have control tools to make sure that financial plans and targets are being achieved, and the best tool is the budget.The budget is a plan set out in numbers, which enables the regime to exercise control. The difference between what is budgeted to happen and what actually happens is termed a variance. A favorable variance fashion that ministry or department is doing rise up while an adverse variance shows those that are not. Allocation of scarce resources. peerless of the biggest tasks of government is the parceling of scare resources. This is very much done through the budget. Resource allocation refers to the distribution of resources, and in particular finance, from the center to peripheral levels.Because the budgetary process is often participatory, it enable the various ministries and local governments to grade their needs and present them to the centre. Programme Coordination. The budget process serves very well to coordinate government departments and ministries. It is at this budget process that the government can get to know who is doing what and at what cos t. Government can for warning be able to tell that water for irrigation has been covered under the Ministry of Agriculture and should at that placefore be omitted from the Ministry of wet and Environment.Communication. The customary budget serves as a communication tool to a variety of audiences. The general public, civic society, and legislators all receive tuition from the budget process. Once the budget has been approved by the legislature and sign(a) into law, the ministries and other agencies become the information recipients. Importantly, each of these actors perceives the budget differently. Budget also communicates upwards. Ministries and various agencies must prepare a budget that persuades the president that they support him and his manifesto.At this level of the process, the information in the budget written document must explain why a program deserves continued support, how it meets the presidents constitution priorities, and how well it is using the resources it has been given. After a ministry budget has been incorporated into the national budget the primary audience for communicating information shifts from the executive to the legislative branch of government. The primary goal at this stage is to provide information to legislature with the recommendations and analysis that serve as the basis for their decisions.Perhaps the most important purpose for public budgeting is to communicate a ministrys intentions and performance to the citizens. The media also plays a major role in presenting budgets to the citizens. The expose events in the budget processes and budget documents must serve to support a mass communication task. self-made communication helps to build legitimacy for the government and its programs. Budgeting as a Governing Tool. Public budgeting has become an progressively central galvanizing force for both the administrative and policy side of governance.This process begins with the preparation of program-level, agency-level, and thusly ministry-level requests for the coming fiscal year. This budget process presents a political platform for the s resource of policy choices and for the allocation of resources to support those choices. The development of a national budget provides the foundation from which to organize a coordinated chemical reaction to these complex problems and needs. Financial Account exponent. Reflecting its roots, the budget process provides the tools to ensure financial accountability.Legislative oversight and audit functions are important activities that provide an opportunity for ministries to demonstrate that they have complied with legislative directives. This compliance provides assurances to both elected officials and to the public that the ministry and its programs are serving the public intimacy. Influence on the Economy . The spending and taxation policies of the central government and local governments have economic impact. Of course, the central government, with its sh11 trillion for 2012/2013 has far more impact on the deliverance than millions the local governments spend.From an economists point of view, the budget serves the following combination of economic objectives * funds genial service programs for those in need, thus increasing the demand for private sector goods and services * reflects tax policy that affects business and individuals * reflects and funds the enforcement of commercial, transportation, land use and environmental regulations that affect the business climate * funds education and other training programs that enhance the countrys human and economic resources * funds routine purchases (like stationary) and pileus projects (like Bujagali dam) that stimulate economic activity * serves to redistribute wealth across the countrys residents and * Supports the government as the largest single employer. Public Budgeting as Political tool. The budget process presents a series of opportunities for elected officials and interest gro ups. The perspectives and needs of elected officials and interest groups may frequently contrast with the values and hopes of most public administrators. sagacity these contrasting needs is a useful key to understanding the budget process. Elected officials must move to their constituents needs and demonstrate a record of leadership. MPs must demonstrate an ability to use government to solve problems in their constituencies. Survival of an MP rests on this ability. In contrast, civil servants often rely on public service and professional values to guide their sense of action and accomplishment. For example, at the ministry of finance, the minister (who is not elected) and budget analysts are primarily committed to acquiring the resources necessary to maintain the cost-effective and effective delivery of programs, not delivering on promises to constituents.The budget process provides leadership opportunities to bridge and reconcile these competing perspectives. The promises of an e lection campaign must be quickly translated into policies and programs. Campaign goals and visions must be translated into legislation and directives that can unsnarl and reorient the ministries. The budget also provides an opportunity for the executive to engage with the legislature. When executive and legislative branches are divided, compromise is usually necessary to meet the constitutional duty shared by the Executive and legislative branches i. e the president must present a budget to the legislature and the parliament is constitutionally required to decree a budget. Waste of time.On many instances, however, budgets may appear of a waste of time when they are not adhered too. In Uganda for example, The Monitor newspaper reported that the budget for Sate House had jumped from Shs66. 1 billion approved in September last year to Shs204. 4 billion. On the day to day running, there always unforeseen consequences that governments have to cater for and often need extra resources be yond what is budgeted for. An example in Uganda was the Bududa landslides, In the US we have seen incidences such Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in 2005. But that is only a perception. Budgets play a very big role in public management and administration.