PIAC demands details of disbursements to infrastructure fund — Targets expenses on ‘Agenda 111”
THE Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), is pushing for full disclosure of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) disbursements made to the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) towards the government’s “Agenda 111 Project”.
In its Semi-Annual Report for this year, it said the amount given to the GIIF should also be reclassified under health components of physical infrastructure, and service delivery in education and health priority areas.
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At the launch of the report in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the committee, Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, said to the best of the knowledge of PIAC, Agenda 111 was under health and, therefore, any expenses should not be categorised in a different way but rather be placed under health.
He said an amount of $25.62 million was received by GIIF in the first quarter of this year, adding that, it was the second time since 2021 that GIIF had received funds for the government’s Agenda 111 Project.
In 2021, an amount of $49.3 million (GH₵290 million) was allocated to the fund.
However, he said PIAC was yet to receive specific details of all those disbursements.
“They haven’t given us the details. Agenda 111 is not just an item on its own but it should come under health priority area as one of the selected priority areas for the spending of oil revenue,” he said.
ABFA
Under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), as amended by Act 893 (PRMA), the ABFA is the main conduit for petroleum revenue financing under the national budget, such that in practice, it presents the strongest link between petroleum revenues and inclusive economic growth.
Accordingly, its use and expenditures are required to be subject to the same budgetary processes, while the PRMA places particular emphasis on the need to ensure efficient allocation, responsible use and effective monitoring of ABFA expenditure.
ABFA spending falls along three core themes: public investments (capital spending including allocations to the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF); consumption (recurrent spending); and PIAC funding.
According to the investment policy statement of the GIIF, the objective of the fund is to mobilise, manage, coordinate and provide financial resources to catalyse the development of critical infrastructure in Ghana and to generate a financial return for its shareholders.
It said the establishment of the fund further provided the country with the opportunity to systematically tackle the complex demands of infrastructure financing and investment. It will partner with the private sector to finance critical infrastructure projects.
Additionally, the committee has asked the GIIF to ensure the utilisation of its share of ABFA on its core mandate of investing in funds in commercial infrastructural projects, in accordance with the GIIF Act, 2014 (Act 877) and policy guidelines for the fund.
The report covers the period January to June 2022 and encompasses a broad range of issues relating to petroleum revenue management such as information on production, liftings, total revenues accruing and allocation by government, ABFA utilisation and the management of funds set aside in the Ghana Petroleum Funds (Ghana Stabilisation Fund and the Ghana Heritage Fund).