Budget Policy for Kabul Municipality

The budget serves a key role in the development process by allocating financial resources to the programs that should be implemented by the municipality. The budget policy of the Kabul Municipality aims to enable the execution of the municipality's Master Plan, which sets the basic vision for the development of Kabul City. The Master Plan includes refurbishing roads, building houses, and executing economic development plans, among others. The available budget will be the leading factor in executing all plans. The policy purpose is to establish a framework that achieves the goals and objectives set for the Kabul Municipality. The citywide goals, governed by the activities of various departments, need the implementation of this Budget Policy. The budget policy development involves several distinct steps, including understanding needs and issues, describing explicit policies governing the development and management of financial resources, identifying broad goals, setting objectives with which to apply available funding, and concluding with specific funding proposals. The policy builds on actions taken in previous budgets, providing continuity with previous programs. This allows community needs to be addressed on a multi-year basis, rather than attempting to satisfy all needs in one year. The fiscal year is the official Solar Year of Afghanistan, equivalent to March 21 to March 20 of the following year on the Gregorian calendar. Within this period, all financial transactions of the budget unit must be accounted for. The budget year is the next fiscal year. Operational resources include revenue resources, charges, taxes, fines, and rents that fund the operational expenditure of the Kabul Municipality. The budget is the document through which the government or any organization presents its expenditure, revenue, taxation, and financing plans for the coming year. The approved budget is the budget approved for expenditure by legislation and stakeholders for budgetary units to be used during one year. The Budget Committee is a committee assigned by the Mayor for preparation, evaluation, and review of the annual budget. This committee will define budget ceilings (limitations) according to revenues and allocate budget for development and operating expenditures according to the law. Expenditures include expenses or outflows of money to another person or group to pay for an item or service, such as staff salaries, travel allowances, and construction of roads. Allotments are portions of the budget allocated by the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance or the Budget Department of the Kabul Municipality through the B27 form, which authorizes the expending entity for expenditure. The allotment is issued by four quarters in major object codes level (21, 22, and 25) for the operating budget but for the development budget, it is issued according to the contract for each project. Input indicators address the amount of resources used in providing a service or delivering an activity, while output indicators describe what is produced by the activities carried out in providing a service. Outcome indicators relate to service achievement resulting in tangible development changes, and efficiency indicators examine the relationship between the level of resources used and the outputs/outcome achieved. This policy applies to all budgetary departments and district offices of the Kabul Municipality. The responsibilities guide the manner in which the budget develops, allocates, manages, and controls financial resources available to the Kabul Municipality. These responsibilities are intended to guide, not govern, financial decision-making and may not be fully achieved within any given budget period.