BUDGET: Govt to facilitate fiscal decentralisation

Accra, Nov. 16, GNA - To facilitate comprehensive reporting and fiscal decentralization, the Controller and Accountant General's Department will consolidate and expand the gains made from the treasury re-alignment and the Sub-Consolidated Funds Bank Account to cover the management of other public funds including Internally Generated Funds (IGF) and donor funds.

This was announced on Thursday by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu in the 2007 Budget statement presented to Parliament.

He said the Public Procurement Board would implement the Web-based Procurement Planning Software and complete the development of software for procurement planning, recording and management and roll out to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

It would also undertake an assessment of 200 entities to determine their level of compliance with the Public Procurement Act, develop and organize training for 500 procurement entities and intensify consultations with stakeholders on the Domestic Content Bill, which offer incentives to firms operating in Ghana to use a specific percentage of their inputs from domestic sources.

The Minister said to improve Non-Tax Revenue Collection, the Ministry would work with the Bank of Ghana and Commercial Banks to introduce on-site banking, where possible to facilitate the collection of Non-Tax Revenue and Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) at MDA premises It would also work with the Internal Audit Agency to carry out auditing of IGFs of selected MDAs and MMDAs in order to strengthen their collection mechanisms, improve internal controls and reduce revenue leakages.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said the Ministry would collaborate with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to implement agreed measures to improve the capacity of MMDAs to generate revenue and facilitate the review of obsolete and unrealistic fees and charges by MDAs.