Thursday, 2nd February, 2017; The Ministry of Finance and the Economic Management Team has begun the process of preparing the 2017 budget and Economic Policy of Government.
2. Our focus is to audit the fiscal accounts and provide a credible basis for economic policy going forward. Our commitment is to restore fiscal policy credibility and transparency as well as policy clarity.
3. As part of the process, the Honourable Minister has held bilateral meetings with the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies to review their policies and ensure consistency with the Government’s medium term policy strategy.
4. During the review and audit process, MDAs submitted unbudgeted projects and commitments of about GH¢7billion, which will have to be validated as the budget process is continuous. We will have a better sense of the numbers before the budget, and have a team assembled to complete our forensic audit to confirm the validity of these expenses and that value for money was obtained at all times.
5. Going forward, we will rationalise public expenditures, strengthen contract management, and realign statutory funds to priority projects.
6. We are committed to ensuring fiscal discipline and good economic governance, focusing on transparent and accountable use of public resources in accordance with the new Public Financial Management law. END
