With publication of a citizen budget guide, Podgorica is one step closer to ensuring better public finance for better lives.
Local finances, often much more than national budgets, are of crucial interest for citizens, as they have direct impact on their day-to-day lives. Many times, however, talking about finance can be a hard nut to crack. How to bring public institutions and citizens closer together? How to get local people involved in discussions about issues that matter? The capital city of Montenegro, Podgorica, is opening up to all citizens with a new, recently published Citizen’s Guide to Podgorica’s 2021 Budget.
What’s in it for citizens?
This guide will be very useful for the citizens of Podgorica. It can help them get acquainted with budget planning and spending at the municipality level. It will lead them through revenues and the ways they are collected and spent. “We expect the guide to encourage citizens to get actively involved in decision-making processes. Together, based on information exchange and suggestions from citizens, we can contribute to successful public finance management in the city,” says Ivan Vukovic, City Mayor.
Funds at the disposal of the capital city are actually the money of all citizens. Thanks to The Guide, anyone can learn about the most significant projects foreseen for 2021, budget-spending breakdown, which sporting or culture investments are planned, how the capital sees the development of women’s entrepreneurship, and many other kinds of information.
The development of The Guide was made possible through the “Strengthening transparent and accountable management of public finances in Montenegro” project, which is supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, and implemented by the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro and UNDP. The guide can be accessed here.
An additional five municipalities have created a citizen budget guide according to the same principle as Podgorica: 2 in the south – Bar and Tivat, and 3 in the north – Bijelo Polje, Mojkovac, and Pljevlja.