Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has expressed the government’s commitment to prevent the accumulation of new arrears.
According to him, the commitment comes with the approved implementation of measures to strengthen control mechanisms.
The Finance Minister made the disclosure on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday during his presentation of the Government’s 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
Mr Ofori-Atta stated that a Spending Arrears Clearance and Prevention Strategy was developed and approved by Cabinet for implementation as part of the measures to achieve the objective of bringing public finances back on a sustainable path through improved efficiency in public spending.
“To clear the existing stock of arrears, the Ghana Audit Service has begun the verification and validation of the arrears identified as at end-December 2022 before payments are made.”
Mr Ofori-Atta emphasised the government’s decision to align the quarterly budget allotments with cash flow forecast and tighten the use of allotments as a control on the Government-wide Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) rather than the budget starting with the 2024 budget.
The Finance Minister also outlined requirements on MDAs to revise their cash plans on a quarterly basis to reflect the allotments received over the year and remaining requirements.
“The Cash plan module on Oracle Hyperion will be reconfigured by December 2023 after completing all stakeholder engagements, in line with the system's functionalities, which will be deployed to the various MDAs. MDAs will be trained on how to use the system to enable them to update their cash plans quarterly. This will ensure that MDAs are able to revise their cash plans within the window provided,” he said.
Mr Ofori-Atta noted that the government aims to standardise contracts for public works to ensure flexibility in budget execution.
He highlighted the government’s commitment to reviewing standard tender documents to include clauses that make the award of the contract null and void if not supported by GIFMIS-generated PURCHASE ORDER.
“All MDAs will be required to use GHANEPS for all Procurements to enhance transparency and efficiency in the procurement of goods, works, consultancy, non-consultancy, and asset disposal.”
The Finance Minister further outlined steps the government has implemented to improve budget execution practices.
“Approval of MDAs commencement requests to be done within the first quarter of any fiscal year to allow MDAs sufficient time to complete procurement and payment processes before end of year.
“Enforcement of the use of GIFMIS for all transactions to prevent unbudgeted expenditure.”
In conclusion, Mr Ofori-Atta noted that the Internal Audit Agency will ensure that public officers within covered entities adhere to the legal and regulatory principles governing public financial management in the discharge of their duties.
Latest Stories
-
Police ‘waiting for court date’ on Erastus’ case is a lie – Samson Anyenini
9 mins -
Sports facilities are better managed by institutions – UG Sports Director on maintenance of Legon stadium
39 mins -
Ghanaian businesses must align vision with strategy to mitigate ESG Risks – KPMG
49 mins -
MTN achieves 30% localisation of Scancom PLC
50 mins -
Attorney-General: Some lawyers sacrifice ethics for ‘cheap’ political gains
1 hour -
Bond market: Volume up by 12.45% to GH¢746m
1 hour -
Cedi records year-to-date loss of nearly 29%; one dollar going for GH¢17.10
1 hour -
‘Our priorities are wrong in Ghana’ – UG Sports Director on sports development
1 hour -
The Fourth Estate’s investigative report wins 2nd place at 2024 AIJC
2 hours -
GPL: Our fans spur us on – GoldStars head coach Frimpong Manso on unbeaten run
2 hours -
Plantain chips are breaking hearts in Africa
2 hours -
61 new architects acquire state license to practice in Ghana
3 hours -
Masloc CEO honoured as capacity building Shero of the Year
3 hours -
MPs’ Repeated Attempts to Sue the Speaker: Unintended Consequences for the 2024 Elections?
3 hours -
Today’s front pages: Tuesday, November 5, 2024
3 hours