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 The participants after the meeting
The participants after the meeting

Public finance management meeting under EU held in Accra

A steering committee meeting of the European Union (EU) Public Finance Management (PFM) Programme has been held in Accra to review the progress of beneficiary institutions in relation to the programme.

The meeting was also to obtain feedback from beneficiary institutions in terms of the implementation of the programme.

The steering committee was constituted to exercise oversight of the programme and to ensure that outputs and outcomes were in accordance with expected results.

Organised jointly by Ernst & Young, the implementing partner of the project, and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the meeting was attended by the Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Ghana, Massimo Mina; the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority, Frank Mante; the Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr Eric Oduro Osae, as well as representatives from the Ghana Audit Service, the Parliamentary Services Board, the World Bank and the German development agency, GIZ.

The meeting highlighted the results of the key ongoing interventions, including the support to the Ghana Audit Service for undertaking IT Audits; the support to the Internal Audit Agency for the establishment of an Internal Audit Service; the support to the Public Procurement Authority for the development of manuals and tools for Framework Contracting; and the support to Parliament for the development and roll-out of the PFM training.

Challenges

A representative of the MoF, Belinda Cobb, stated that the beneficiary institutions were faced with a common challenge of insufficient capacity to deliver on their mandate in the Public Finance Management.

She assured participants that the ministry would continue to take measures to roll out relevant programmes to bridge the identified gaps.

Commenting on the procurement of equipment for beneficiary institutions, she stated that good progress had been made, and gave an assurance that the equipment would be delivered in the shortest time.

Ms Cobb said the government, through the MoF, would continue to provide the necessary assistance to ensure accountability in the public service.

The Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Ghana stated that the Public Finance Management was of critical concern to all development partners because of its fundamental role in the achievement of development objectives.

He said setting a relevant and credible Public Finance Management strategy was an eligibility criteria for the deployment of EU budget support, and reaffirmed the commitment of the EU to continue to support Ghana to enhance Public Finance Management in the coming years.

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