Ngafuan urged newly appointed officials should avoid the mentality of executing their budgets within just nine months, as this could lead to exhausting their budget before the end of the fiscal year.
Congo Town– The minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Ngafuan, has urged ministers, heads of entities, and agencies to efficiently utilize their respective allocations within the national budget for the fiscal year 2025.
By Jaheim [email protected]
The national budget for fiscal year 2025, totaling US$880.07 million, was signed into law by President Joseph N. Boakai on December 7, 2024.
It was subsequently passed by the “Minority Bloc” of the House of Representatives and approved by the Liberian Senate to be executed under the Boakai-Koung administration.
In light of this, the MFDP organized a workshop for three days, aimed at refreshing and deepening the understanding of key fiscal rules, budget execution procedures, monitoring, and reporting among ministers and technical staff from ministries and entities.
Making remarks, Minister Ngafuan stated that heads of governmental institutions should develop quarterly plans to effectively implement the yearly budget.
He emphasized that newly appointed officials should avoid the mentality of executing their budgets within just nine months, as this could lead to exhausting their budget before the end of the fiscal year.
Ngafuan advised, “I recommend that you plan for 12 months, and then break it down into quarterly plans. Determine what you aim to accomplish in the first, second, and third quarters. Have your teams create these plans so you can review and approve them.”
He stressed the importance of closely examining each line of the budget to ensure successful execution. “This workshop will provide you with numerous rules and regulations intended to help you adjust your budget to align with your execution plans,” he said.
Additionally, he urged government institutions to prioritize their objectives and engage in efficient execution practices that would enable them to achieve more within their fiscal constraints without depleting their budgets.
Ngafuan remarked, “It is not how your budget is, it is how you use it. The reason why the government expects better budget execution this year is that last year, there were transition challenges for which the budget had to be recast, submitted in April and passed almost in May, and the same recast budget had to be reversed again two times. Due to that, planning on the part of ministries and agencies was a challenge. Now, ministries and agencies have a year to plan for which there should be no excuse to do better.”
He assured participants that the legal framework governing budget execution would remain as flexible as possible within their spending limits. However, he underscored that ministries and entities with access to Internally Generated Funds (IGF) must effectively manage their expenditures.
“You cannot come to us, we give you a budget for expenditure and then you have a pool of money through those lines and then the usage of the money becomes a black box,” he cautioned.
Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Tanneh G. Brunson, also addressed participants, stating that the workshop is crucial for enhancing the capacity of spending entities to execute their budgets responsibly and efficiently.
She emphasized that by equipping participants with the necessary knowledge and tools, the workshop would ensure public funds are used effectively to meet the needs of citizens while aligning with the government’s broader development goals.
Brunson commented, “The workshop aims to ensure the national budget is executed in alignment with approved allocations, deepen understanding of fiscal rules and procedures related to budget execution, strengthen the capacity of spending entities for timely financial reporting, and foster better coordination among ministries to promote the efficient and accountable use of public funds.”
