By  Vincent Ujumadu

AWKA—AS part of efforts by Anambra State Government to involve the people in the formulation of annual budget, major stakeholders in the state’s economy have brainstormed on how to make the 2010 budget a successful one.

Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Professor Chinyere Okunna, explained that the seminar was a prelude to the planning and presentation of next year’s budget.

According to him, “budget belongs to the people; it is a planning document which projects what should be done..

“If you are a democratically elected government like ours and make governance participatory, you need to find out from them what they need.

“They will come and tell us what they want in the budget and after this, we do a budget retreat to put the budget together and forward it to the House of Assembly for approval.

“It will be a budget for everybody and  that is why we call it participatory budget.”

She explained that owing to the poor financial status of Anambra State, it was necessary to outline areas of need and allow people to make their input, after the government agencies had made theirs.

According to her, it is for that reason that government targeted the key people in the state namely, the presidents-general of town unions, traditional rulers, NGOs, among others.