Parliament can’t analyze budget - IEA

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has called for the establishment of a budget office that has experts to analyze and monitor the nation’s budget.

According to the IEA, Members of Parliament (MP) are not competent to monitor and scrutinize the budget.

Professor John Asafu Adjaye, Senior Visiting Fellow of IEA, made this known at the launch of the 2015 IEA Petroleum Transparency and Accountability (P-TRAC) Index report in Accra.

He said the budget office would mainly advise parliament on the budget.

“Parliament currently is not technically able to analyze or scrutinize the budget. Budget analysis is a specialized area that needs experts,” he said.

Prof. Asafu Adjaye called for the passage of the Budget Act, with specific provision for an independent budget office, which would provide technical expertise for analyzing and monitoring the budget and making recommendations to Parliament.

Touching on the award of contracts and licenses, Prof. Asafu Adjaye called for an open and transparent process of awarding contracts and licenses.

He said advocated more public disclosure on the process and a point-based system for assessing licenses.

The 2015 Petroleum Transparency and Accountability (P-TRAC) Index, which was established in 2011, reports the progress made to date in enhancing transparency and accountability in the governance of Ghana’s petroleum resources.

The P-TRAC Index is based on tracking performance across four components of the management of the petroleum resources, namely Revenue Transparency, Expenditure Transparency, Contract Transparency and Transparency in the management of the Ghana Petroleum Funds.

The overall goals of the P-TRAC project are to promote transparency and accountability in the management of Ghana’s petroleum resources and to enhance the level of responsibility on the part of the policy-makers and implementers.