Finance ministry holds mid-term review workshop
Freetown, Nov. 6 (SLENA) – The Public Financial Management and Business Enabling Support Project (PFMBES) in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has ended a one day Mid-Term Review workshop at the Ministry’s Conference Room in Freetown.
The Acting Coordinator of the Public Financial Management and Business Enabling Support Project, Adams Kargbo, in welcoming participants, noted that since the arrival of the MID- Term Review Mission they have held discussions during which they looked at where they were and where they wanted to go and what they needed to do to get there as, according to him, the project will round up by December 2014.
He said the purpose of the workshop was for all of them to be on the same page and recalled what they had agreed on and the actions they needed to take.
Giving an over view of the project, Mr. Kargbo said the project amounts to EU 4 million and that the ADB/ADF funding amounts to US$ 6 million, adding that the African Development Bank and the Government of Sierra Leone funded the Public Financial Management and Business Enabling Support Project.
The Acting Coordinator maintained that the project was approved by the ADB Board in September 2011, adding that the Financing agreement was signed on 15th November 2011 and that the project was declared effective in January 2012.
Speaking about the objectives of the PFMBES project, Mr. Adams Kargbo said the project aims to support the effort and plan of the Government to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction through support to PFM reform and private sector development by strengthening transparency and accountability in the use of public resources and promoting private sector development, adding that the above will be pursued through technical assistance, trainings and provision of capital goods.
In his opening remarks, Senior Deputy Financial Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Dennis Vandy, stated that he was opportuned to talk to the mission team during which they discussed the issues lengthily as they have been meeting with the implementing agencies and discussing the issues of the implementation of the project.
He pointed out that from what he gathered was there were numerous challenges, noting that they are all aware of the end date of the project, stating that the Public Financial Management and Business Enabling Support Project is not a project that is subject to any form of extension and that they should therefore ensure that they implement the project as agreed upon.
He made it crystal clear that there are difficulties and that they should realized that the implementing agencies particularly know what goes where, the kind of funding and the kind of activity they would want to undertake from now on to December 2014 and if they agreed on that with the mission, that is what the Minister or Government will sign up to. He stressed on the need for them to ensure that they implement the project successfully, saying from discussions held they were able to know that there were problems of capacity, understanding the functions of what is expected of the Ministry of Finance or the Integrated Project Administration Unit and then what is expected of the different implementing agencies and stakeholders of the project.
The Taskforce Team leader, Assistant Erika Auer, in her remarks said throughout the week they saw some progress in the project, noting that they have also seen some challenges as well. She said the workshop was basically to look at the new priorities of the implementing agencies or to know whether they are going to continue with the previous ones.
HB/MoFED/SLENA
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