Consistent with the provisions under Article 179 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 20 (1) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), this Budget Preparation Guidelines is issued to facilitate the preparation of the 2019 and the medium term (2019-2022) Budget, by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The Guidelines include instructions on the processes and procedures, and preliminary budget ceilings to guide government institutions that subsist on public funds, in the preparation of their 2019-2022 budgets.
Colleague Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCE’s), Chief Directors and Heads of Institutions are particularly to take note of the following:
- the National Medium Term Development Policy Framework (NMTDPF) 2018-2021, which is informed by the President’s Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (CP) (2017-2024), should be the basis of the 2019-2022 medium term budget. MDAs/MMDAs should ensure that sector/district plans are aligned with the NMTPDF;
- Ghana has signed on to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international protocols, which have been aligned with the NMTDPF. Therefore, in line with the NMTDPF, the programmes to be implemented through the budget, should reflect the objectives and aspirations of the SDGs and other protocols;
- priority attention should be given to on-going policy initiatives and other strategic programmes in the allocation of resources in order to avoid excessive re-allocation during implementation;
- the ceilings attached to the guidelines are tentative and should be used by MDAs/MMDAs in estimating their budgets;
- MDAs and subvented organisations that subsist on the budget and generate Non-Tax Revenue/Internally Generated Funds (NTR/IGFs) should prepare and submit their revenue budgets; and
- MDAs should budget for all Development Partner funded projects to be disbursed in 2019 and the medium term to ensure that aid is on budget.
Following from above, Honourable Ministers, Heads of Institutions and Chief Directors are enjoined to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines in the preparation of the 2019–2022 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Estimates.