Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Finance Minister, has announced various expenditure measures for the 2025 fiscal year and in the medium term to support the government’s fiscal consolidation agenda.
The Minister said the government planned to conduct a comprehensive audit to validate arrears, payables and commitments as of 31 December 2024 before payment.
Presenting the 2025 budget statement in Parliament, he said government will implement a mandate on the use of the “Blanket Purchase Order” for multi-year commitments, aligning with the medium-term expenditure framework ceilings.
He disclosed that the government would amend the Public Procurement Act to establish an Independent Value-for-Money Office, scrutinising government procurements above a Parliament-determined threshold.
“Amend the Public Procurement Act to require commencement certificates and budgetary provisions for all centrally funded procurements,” he said.
He said that the government would fully integrate GIFMIS to ensure only approved and budgeted projects and purchase orders received procurement approvals.
The Finance Minister said the government would operationalise the Compliance Desk at the Ministry of Finance to monitor commitment and arrears accumulation reports, enabling the publication of a PFM league table for compliance.
“Strictly enforce sanctions under Section 98 of the Public Financial Management Act (PFM) for breaches, especially those related to arrears accumulation and commitment control,” he said.
He said the government would cut wasteful expenditure on inefficient and duplicative programmes to reduce expenditure under the fiscal consolidation programme.
This, according to the Minister, includes eliminating selected expenditure items like GhanaCARES, YouStart, and the One District One Factory.
GNA
