World Bank reviews Ghana’s Public Financial Management Reform Project
The World Bank Mid-Term Review Mission is currently reviewing Ghana’s Public Financial Management Reform Project (PFMRP) in Accra.
The development objective of the PFMRP is to improve the budget management, financial control and reporting of the Government of Ghana.
The $45 million project, which started on May 15, 2015, is expected to be completed by June 30, 2019.
The project will also contribute to enhancing fiscal discipline, strategic allocation of resources and service delivery efficiency, through strengthened systems and procedures and targeted capacity building.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, speaking at the opening of the week-long mid-term review programme said: “The immense role of the various components in achieving the set targets pertaining to the entire Public Financial Management Reform agenda and ensuring the full engagement of public finance cannot be overemphasised.
“It is therefore, gratifying to have the World Bank Team here with us today to assess work done so far and to also plan for the future,” the Minister added.
He said the Ministry of Finance sees the PFMRP as a relevant tool to the achievement of fiscal discipline, efficient resource allocation and effective service delivery to the people.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the World Bank Mission would afford Ghana the opportunity to review the progress of the project at mid-term, decide on what had being done well and which aspect needed to be propped-up.
He said the Mission would also offer suggestions on the allocation of the $ 55 million Just-In-Time provision within the project.
“In offering these suggestions regards should be given to the need to target arrears within the budget such as the wage bill and debt management to enable us overcome the challenges in those areas,” the Minister stated.
Mr Henry Kerali, World Bank Regional Director for Africa, based in Accra, commended Ghana for the prudent financial management reforms it had embarked upon through the support of the PFMRP.
He noted that despite the successes chalked in the PFMRP project implementation in Ghana, there was still more room for improvement.
Mr Donald Mpande, the World Bank’s Task Team Lead for the PFMRP, lauded the role of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) in the implementation of the PFMRP.
Dr Mohammed Sani Abdulai, Project Director, PFMRP, said so far, $21 million (49 per cent) of the PFMRP fund had been disbursed.
Dr Abdulai said the PFMRP sought to achieve improvement in budget management, financial control and reporting of the Government with the aim of enhancing fiscal discipline, strategic allocation of resources and service delivery efficiency, through strengthened systems and procedures and targeted capacity building.
He said the major challenge in the implementation of the PFMRP project was getting the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) connectivity across the nation.
The PFMRP comprised of four components; the objective of component one is to enhance budget component, to improve budget management and strengthen credibility of the national budget.
The objective of component two, public financial management systems and control component is to support the design, development, implementation and coverage of the Government’s public financial management (PFM) systems and control; while the objective of component three is to reinforcing financial oversight and accountability.
Some of the projects under the PFMRP include the GIFMIS at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) of the Public Services Commission and the Audit Managing Information System of the Audit Service.
Source: GNA