Info, budget officers schooled on 2016 budget

Mrs Patricia Dovi Sampson, Director of Research, Statistics and Information Management, Ministry of Communication has urged Regional Information and Budget Officers to provide feedback to government to help shape formulation of policies.

Mrs. Dovi Sampson said it was important for the Officers, who went to the grassroots to disseminate information of the budget, to provide feedback to government, since it would help government to know and address concerns raised by citizens at the grassroots level and for policy formulation.

She made the call during a presentation at the opening of a two-day sensitization workshop on the 2016 Budget Statement and Economic Policy organised by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for Regional Information and Budget Officers.

Mrs Dovi Sampson noted that since 2016 is an election year, the public would be keen to scrutinise the budget, thus there was the need for participants at the workshop to fully grasp its import in order to better explain it to the public.

She urged the Regional Information and Budget Officers to be innovative and to employ all available means to ensure that the message was well disseminated.

Mrs Helen Mona Quartey, the Deputy Minister of Finance, said the budget focused on consolidating the modest gains made with Ghana’s home grown policy and under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme in various sectors including education, health, water, roads, transport, communications, housing and energy.

The Deputy Minister, who gave participants an overview of the 2016 budget, said there had been clear signs that the programme of fiscal consolidation was yielding positive results, making the economy more efficient.

“For instance the GSS estimates the GDP will grow at 4.1 per cent at the end of 2015, compared to the 3.5 per cent initially projected; the World Bank and IMF estimate future growth above seven percent,” she said.

She noted that among strategies adopted by the 2016 budget to consolidate the progress made were: introduction of a new Public Financial Management (PFM) bill that would provide sanctions for infringing on any PFM law.

The budget also seeks to improve revenue mobilisation through effective tax administration and ensuring compliance, curtailing government expenditures and effectively managing public debt, among others.

Mrs Mona Quartey said government spending in 2016 would focus on some keys areas aside payment of compensation including transfers to statutory funds.

Other areas include Election 2016; investments in the power sector to resolve challenges; investments in irrigation scheme and high yielding seeds; as well as implementation of Green House Project to train farmers, youth, women and agricultural graduates in commercial and modern greenhouse vegetable production.

Other key areas of focus would be social interventions in education, health and the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) programme, public safety, job creation and completing already started investments in health, education, housing and other sectors.

She entreated the participants to do their best to disseminate the information, adding that, intervention outlined in the budget will help to achieve the brighter medium term prospects for the nation.

Participants at the workshop included about 120 Information and Budget Officers, Cinema Van Commentators and District Information Officers drawn from across all the regions of the country.

Participants were taken through policy initiatives contained in the budget and the macroeconomic framework of the budget by Mr Patrick Nomo, Director of Budget and Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, Director Economic Research and Forecasting Division of the Ministry of Finance respectively.

The workshop aimed at empowering the participants to disseminate the budget by educating them on the policies underpinning the budget, an annual practice undertaken by the Ministry of Finance as part of its post-budget activities.

With knowledge gained from the workshop, participants are expected to carry out a two-week educational and informational campaign in their various communities on the contents of the budget through the Cinema Vans and also by speaking at various events held in communities.