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4th African Network of Parliamentary Budget Officers Conference opens in Accra

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A four-day conference of The 4th African Network of Parliamentary Budget Officers (AN-PBO), has been opened to launch Ghana office.

The conference which is underway in Ghana’s Parliament, is under the theme: “The role of African Parliaments in budgeting and fiscal oversight; Contributing to the African Union 2063 development agenda.”

It is expected to enhanced the capacity of PBOs’ for them to conduct incontrovertible research works to support Members of Parliament on Government budgets and economic policy statements.

The participants drawn from South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Canada, and Cambodia are also expected to learn lessons from other countries to inform the establishment of Ghana’s Budget and Fiscal Analysis Office.

The specific objective of the conference are to: Create a platform for information sharing among countries with PBOS; Serve as a resource centre for countries contemplating establishing budget offlces; Draw lessons from other countries’ experlences, including non-African countries; Identify suitable collaborative mechanisms and relationship for effective services; and Identify challenges that relate to establishing PBO’s and propose solutions.

It has been established that, Ghana stands to benefit enormously from hosting the conference abd one of the key reform areas under the on-going parliamentary reform program is the establishment and full operationalization of the Budget and Fiscal Analysis Office.

“The Office when established will, among other things, provide technical support services to Members in the area of policy and economic impact analysis as well as fiscal analysis of bills to serve as means to overcoming the challenges with the introduction of Private Members Bill pursuant to Article 108 of the Constitution”.

The conference is expected to serve as a useful platform to solicit expert advice  and experience sharing on how to overcome possible challenges regarding the operationalization of the office.

It it will further enhance the diplomatic relations of Ghana with the participating countries.

Background:

The role of Legislatures in the budget process, all over the world, is gradually becommg more demanding as government implement complex policies and reforms and as constituents look up to their elected representatives to ensure that the programmes and policies of The Executive achieve the highest possible value for money.

The question is no longer whether parliaments have a role to play in the budget process, but rather, how Public Financial Management systems can be designed to facilitate the constructive inclusion of parliaments in the budget process in order to maximize transparency, responsiveness, and accountability.

It is in recognition of the above that Global Network of Parliamentary Budget Officers (GNPBO) was established in 2013 to enhance the practices of Parliamentary Budget Officers and other analysts that support their respective parliaments and parliamentarians in the budget process.

In 2016, Parliamentary Budget Officers from African countries also decided to form a network of African Parliamentary Budget Officers to focus on the peculiar challenges confronting the parliaments of Africa in the budget process

Story filed by Edzorna Francis Mensah

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