The National Local Government Financial Committee (NLGFC) has introduced the new template that is aimed at simplifying communication between council and communities on budgeted development projects.

This was disclosed on Wednesday in Blantyre during one of the budget review meetings which the committee is conducting with the councils.

The Committee’s budget analyst Jonathan Banda says the citizen budget template has come to help to clear the misunderstandings between stakeholders involved in the council’s budgets.

Banda stressed that the template will simplify information regarding the budget hence improving transparency and accountability.

“The template has been given to all councils in order for them to simplify the budget information which is supposed to be known by every citizen in the council hence transparency transpires,” said Banda.

However, the Director of Finance for Mulanje district Council Ellen Kaila has applauded the development saying the template is the way to go in as far as transparency on public funds is concerned.

“The new template makes it easy for the community to understand and also to be able to do the follow-ups,” she said.

The committee is meeting councils across the country for a budget review starting with the southern region.

The National Local Government Finance Committee is a constitutional body established by the Constitution of Malawi section 149 to provide effective technical, financial, and economic management service for mobilization, distribution, and utilization of resources for quality service delivery by the local government.