Proposals for the establishment of an autonomous body to check the government’s expenditure has been put on hold.
The Fiscal Council which is being championed by the IMF, subject to parliamentary approval, was expected to take off next year.
The council will among other things vet government’s targets set out in the budget with respect to revenue raised and how it spends taxes collected. It will also have the power to sanction government officials and agencies that consistently spend out their budgets.
However, some government officials have rejected the idea.
They say institutions like the finance committee of parliament and the national development planning commission are acting as a check on government’s expenditure, therefore there is no need for another institution to do the same work.
They also hold that proposed Fiscal Council might come with additional cost to the state.
A chief Economist at the finance ministry, Madam Eva Mends, says the Fiscal Council is not needed immediately.
“We already have government councils of ministries. We believe that the ministry is already accountable to government and to parliament. We want to use existing institutions to make the ministry of finance more accountable, she explains.
Madam Eva Mends spoke in an interview at a seminar on a draft public financial management bill.
The IMF on the other hand believes that the Council is the only way to control country’s persistent budget overruns because the laws and parliamentary checks have not worked.
Source: myjoyonline