What is a budget? A simple income-expenditure statement. If expenditure exceeds the income, the budget makers indicate how the resultant deficit is being plugged-borrowing , additional taxation or revenue generation measures and cutting on one or more sectoral allocations-. Or otherwise simply the deficit is carried forward.

But the Sindh budget remains a puzzle and a mystery. The Sindh finance minister announced a revenue surplus budget for the current fiscal year in June 2003. But in June 2004, he disclosed a colossal resource gap of Rs8.89 billion in the revenue budget for the current fiscal year.

On June 16, Syed Sardar Ahmad disclosed the total revenue expenditure for the year 2003-04 has exceeded the budgetary projection by Rs3.53 billion. The original budget showed revenue expenditure of Rs89.54 billion but in final counts it has been found at Rs93.08 billion.

As expenditure went up, the income projections declined by Rs5.35 billion. Last year the finance minister expected total income generation of Rs90.91 billion. But as the year comes to end, the minister has calculated Sindh's income at Rs85.56 billion. A fall in income and rise in expenditure has not only turned the surplus into a deficit but that amounting to huge Rs8.89 billion.

Carrying a drag of the National Finance Commission stalemate, the Sardar was a little more realistic in making budgetary projections for the next fiscal year 2004-05. He has indicated a total revenue gap of Rs5.44 billion in the revenue budget.

But what is intriguing is that this huge deficit on revenue side has not deterred the finance minister to announce an ambitious and record Annual Development Programme of Rs18 billion.

"Where will the money come from for this Rs18 billion ADP?"a journalist asked the Sardar during a post-budget briefing at the new Sindh Secretariat building. "The multinationals draw up their development plans without any money in their kitty" replied Sindh's finance minister who had also been the Chief Secretary of this unfortunate province. He was confident of mobilising the funds for financing the next year's ADP.

After all in the current fiscal year too, Sindh government financed almost Rs10 billion development programme in face of Rs8.89 billion revenue deficit. "Is the Sindh government preparing a highly inflated revenue budget to squeeze out funds for development efforts" is a natural and spontaneous observation.

The finance minister explains that vacancies are provided for various sectors in the budget. These remain unfulfilled and thus the money saved is diverted to development financing.

But how would one explain this practice now going on for the third consecutive year in Sindh province? "Who is trying to cheat whom?" is the natural question. A budget is expected to be a transparent document that reflects the minutest detail of spending and income.

If sectoral re appropriations are being made in the budget during mid-year, the question is whether sanctions are being obtained from the 168 graduate members Sindh Assembly. "The Assembly is not even being informed what to talk of getting any sanction" is an observation of an opposition member.

Then there is a very pressing question. Why are the post budget press conferences being held in Karachi or Islamabad. Attending such briefings in Karachi and having a glimpse of such a gathering in Islamabad on television, the only impression is that these gatherings have now been reduced to circus shows where both the questioner and the one who answers try to outwit each other and in the process proves to be a clown or buffoon.

Post budget press conferences should provide answers to many questions that comes to mind after looking at the budget documents. A simple example is how the Rs 18 billion ADP of Sindh budget for 2004-05 will be financed? The answer to this question is obviously not a classified information.

In fact it is the constitutional obligation of the government to provide a correct answer. For people of Sindh it is a question of Rs122.90 billion budget for the next fiscal year in which the government has taken up the task to spend Rs104.90 billion on the revenue side and Rs 18 billion on the development side.

There is a Rs7 billion capital account expenditure and Rs2.80 billion additional funds expected from foreign sources and from the federal government. The World Bank is providing a loan for financial reforms in the Sindh government which has prepared a Provincial Financial Accountability Assessment.

As a long term solution, the World Bank wants the enactment of a Budget (development and implementation) law, specifically restricting expenditure to available resources.

It advises to use the federal government's draft on fiscal responsibility and debt limitation law as the model for Sindh. The World Bank wants assembly's approval for the receipts as is being done in case of expenditure.

It observes that receipts estimates are so inflated to meet the proposed expenditure to minimise the deficit. There are no restrictions on the government to keep expenditures within actual or stipulated receipts or to keep the deficit within a prescribed margin.

A day long workshop was organised by the World Bank last October in Karachi to involve politicians and bureaucrats of the provincial government to brief them on their responsibilities with regard to financial management.

The attendance was thin and participation remained confined to ceremonial remarks by the finance Minister, a speech by the Shazado Sheikh from accountant general office who spoke on the virtues of centralisation of authority and World Bank functionaries.

Under financial management reforms the Sindh government was expected to set up a provincial revenue service. For reasons known only to the serving and retired bureaucrats, the Sindh government is not ready to set up such a service. Instead it opted to form a Fiscal Coordination Committee headed by the finance minister.

Sources in Sindh government say that this Committee has not met for once in the current fiscal year. This Committee is expected to streamline the provincial revenue collection.

Budget documents reveal that collection of provincial revenue is lower than projected in the budget. The government has failed to collect agricultural income tax. For last few years the budgets projected collection of Rs 700 million. This year's document shows the actual collection is Rs 240 million. Those who know the affairs of Sindh Board of Revenue have serious doubts on this figure.

According to the Sindh finance minister the persisting drought for last three years and the rains that lashed last year damaged standing crops has pauperised the landed gentry.

Tax on agricultural income is being collected from small farmers while the affluent feudal irrespective of his political leanings is immune from all such obligations.