Accra (Greater Accra) 30 March '99
Parliament under a certificate of urgency on Monday approved 6.774 trillion cedis for the various ministries, agencies and departments, to carry out the service of government for the 1999 financial year.
The House, by a resolution, approved the withdrawal of 1.299 trillion cedis
from the consolidated fund, last year, to meet the expenditure necessary to keep
government machinery going for the first quarter of 1999 which ends on March 31.
The 1.299 trillion cedis are included in the total amount of 6.774 trillion
cedis indicated in the appropriation bill submitted by the Ministry of Finance.
In a motion for the approval, the sector Minister, Mr Kwame Peprah said the
bill was seeking legislative backing to enable the spending agencies to withdraw
the money to carry out government business.
It is the intention of the government to improve the efficiency of the
ministries, departments and agencies to enable them to raise more revenue so
that they could get adequate budgetary allocations to support their operations.
In its report, the Parliamentary Finance Committee noted that 38.64 billion
cedis have been earmarked as Contingency Fund in accordance with Article 177 of
the Constitution.
The ministry is required by Article 177 to seek parliamentary approval
for any vote required from the Contingency Fund.
The Committee therefore urged that the Ministry of Finance should strictly
comply with the provision
The Ministry was also urged to ensure that budgetary allocations of
approved estimates are released on time to the ministries, departments and
agencies under them so that government objectives, activities and targets can be
met.
The report reminded all ministries that the budget, operating under the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), requires them to submit quarterly performance reports
to their respective subject matter Parliamentary committees for appraisal.
The Minority Leader, Mr J.H. Mensah, acknowledged the sector ministry's
efforts at improving budgetary procedures and called for an agreed format for the presentation of
budgetary proposals to Parliament.
Winding up, the Minister gave the assurance that the ministry will try to
match revenue with expenditure to ensure timely releases of the appropriation
bill.
