By Emelia B. Addae
Koforidua, Oct. 14, GNA – The Eastern Regional Coordinating Council (ERCC) has held the 2024-2027 composite budget hearing to mark the crucial step in the fiscal planning and development of the region.
The budget hearing prioritised the Revenue Improvement Action Plan (RIAP); the use of the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS); and budget approval.
The meeting brought together officers of the various Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) across the region to provide the ERCC with the status of implementation of their 2023 budget, highlights of their key achievements and challenges, and proposals for 2024 and the medium term.
A speech delivered on behalf of the Eastern Regional Minister by Mr. John A. Donkor, the Eastern Regional Coordinating Director in Koforidua, urged Assemblies to pursue cost-effective strategies to enhance efficiency in delivering essential services required by citizens.
On the RIAP he said, Municipal and District Coordinating Directors must ensure that once the General Assembly approves their By-Laws and Rate Imposts, they are gazetted to provide the necessary legal foundation for enforcing compliance and pursuing legal action against defaulters.
Regarding the use of the GIFMIS platform, he said it was incumbent on the Municipal and District Chief Executives to ensure that all budgetary and financial transactions were executed through the system to streamline reporting and enable prompt decision-making.
Moreover, Mr. Donkor said to improve ownership and enhance transparency and accountability, the 2024 composite budget to be approved by the General Assembly should be signed off by the Presiding Member and the Coordinating Director prior to submission to the Regional Coordinating Councils for onward submission to the Ministry of Finance by 3rd November 2023.
Nii Djeshie Douglas, Eastern Regional Budget Analyst, said the composite budget hearing was an annual event carried out within the legal framework of Section 20 (1) of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, 2016 (Act 921), and Regulation 17 (3) of the Public Financial Management Regulations 2019, (L.I. 2378) PFM (Public Investment Management) regulation 2020, L.I. 2411 and Local Governance Act 2016, Act (936).
The Act enjoins the Regional Coordinating Councils to organize budget hearings for all public entities including MMDAs.
He said it was done to deepen decentralized local governance and to offer the opportunity for stakeholders such as traditional authorities, departmental heads and other important groupings to participate in the budget process and ensure accountability.
The presentations of the budgets by the districts and municipals were done under the guidance of the technical team from the Ministry of Finance and the Regional Coordinating Council to fine-tune the budgets to be in conformity with the guidelines for collation and submission to the appropriate quarters.
GNA