Finance Minister launches first citizen budget
The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Momodu Kargbo launched the first ‘Citizen Budget,’ a simplified version of the 2012 National Nudget on Thursday May 10 at the Miatta Conference Centre, Freetown.
Speaking during the launch, Chairman Mr. Ambrose James said, the launching of the Citizen Budget is a milestone in the development process of the government. He noted that the Citizen Budget is all about being proactive towards issues of national development. He added that this is the first Citizen Budget that will go down well into the National Budget and create a difference in the life of Sierra Leoneans.
Speaking on behalf of the donor partners, the Country Manager of World Bank, Mr. Vijay Pilai noted that the launch of the budget is a great achievement in pursuing transparency and accountability.
He said even the citizens will be able to understand, interpret, analyze, and ensure accountability and participation. The World Bank manager spoke of the technical and critical role of the non state actors in the process in terms of reaching out the population by facilitating dialogue.
Launching the simplified version of the first Citizen Budget, the Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Momodu Kargbo said the launch of the simplified budget is in fulfillment of a commitment that was made by the Minister of Finance on the 25th of November 2011, while reading the budget speech in the well of parliament.
The Deputy Minister noted that that medium term budget has been a very technical document, which made it very difficult for people to understand its contents. He said the simplified version of the budget has widened the segment of the population so that all tax payers are fully aware of the mobilization and use of public resources.
He thanked and expressed profound gratitude to the donor partners for being supportive in the process while assuring the audience that the Citizen Budget will continue to be prepared every year.
By Mohamed B. Bangura
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