Public finance management – Editorials

EDITORIAL: That the Public Finance Management Act 2022 has come into effect in Punjab, to bring transparency and efficiency in the handling of provincial funds, is a very welcome development.

Indeed, since the new Act is about setting budgeting guidelines in a way to minimise wastage of public funds, which is a big problem everywhere in the country, other provinces are also advised, and expected, to take the same route. It will incorporate mid-term plans (covering three to five years) into the budget-making process, providing perhaps the best blueprint for not just checking misallocation of resources in public sector departments, but also willful corruption.

Punjab’s finance department is mandated to prepare a plan for the Act’s implementation within six months of its commencement, so the spotlight will be on the provincial machinery as it prepares to meet the deadline. Hopefully, the charged politics of these times, which revolves around the threat of dissolution of Punjab and KP assemblies to force a snap election, will not push this initiative down the priority list.

Protecting public funds is the foremost responsibility of all governments, after all, especially when the central and all provisional administrations are struggling to stay solvent. And as it is becoming increasingly difficult to fish for more funds in the international market, the importance of maintaining the integrity of public spending is greater than ever. If this law can make the provincial…