Finance ministry starts bilateral budget discussion

Port Loko, Sept. 24 (SLENA) – The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) last Friday 13th September started the Bilateral Budget discussion for the financial year 2014-2016 at the MJ Motel in Port Loko.

The programme brought together vault controllers, programme managers, staff of project implementation units, members of District Oversight Budget Committee (DBOCS), Non State Actors, the Financial Secretary of MoFED, Deputy Financial Secretary, Director of Budget Bureau, Director of Public Debt, Director of EPRU and host of other dignitaries.

The discussion started with the Ministry of Social welfare, Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), Ministry of Education, Pharmacy Board and Tertiary Education Commission.

All of these were asked to go back to the drawn board and prepare their budget according to the instructions of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development as this year’s budget is activity driven.

The program was officially launched by the Financial Secretary, Mr. Edmond Koroma, during which he informed all MDAs to follow the Budget Template that was issued out to them by the Budget Bureau in order to present an accurate budget proposal for discussion. This he said should include the strategic plan of each MDA which contains the recurrent and development budget.

He was quick to warn MDAs who fail to adhere to the budget procedure that they will be penalized by standing them down and their budgets not approved.

According to the Director of Budget, Mr. Mathew Dingie, this year’s Budget Discussion is geared towards activity driven programs to be implemented by the various MDAs in line with the 8 pillars of the Agenda for Prosperity. He however informed his audience that this year’s budget is different from the previous years, noting that the previous year’s budget focused mainly on line items such as travelling, office and generals, fuel, advertisement and the likes but that this year’s budget will focus on activities that will be undertaken by the MDAs in complementing the 8 pillars of the Agenda for Prosperity.

He further noted that the rationale for the change of venue for the Budget Discussion is to give equal opportunity to others in the provincial towns to fully participate in this all important process, adding that other stakeholders such as Civil Society members, District Budget Oversight Committee members, Non State Actors, Parliamentarians and locals will make meaningful contributions towards the budget discussions.

Mr. Dingie also informed SLENA during a brief interview that this type of budgetary process is to cut down on the many wastages incurred by MDAs so that areas that are affected such as development activities, salaries increments and many other tangible programs will be considered.

HB/MoFED/SLENA

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