Monrovia, Liberia – The Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, has urged government heads of entities to manage the funds allotted to them in the budget, adding that the national budget is valid for one year.
Speaking on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at the start of a three-day workshop on the effective execution of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Budget, Minister Nyafuan urged ministers and directors appointed around April not to have the mentality of executing their entities’ or ministries’ budgets within nine months, stating that doing so would result in the entities’ or ministries’ budgets being exhausted before the budget year.
“While we acknowledge that certain ministers and directors were hired around April, having a budget execution mindset for nine months will deplete the budget, and your entitlement or ministry would go bankrupt shortly. “This budget is for twelve months, not three, six, or nine,” Minister Ngafuan explained.
Liberia’s Finance Minister urged heads of public agencies to do quarterly and yearly planning, stating that it will aid in budget implementation.
The Minister advised heads of ministries and enterprises to grasp budget regulations in order that they may better align their budgets with the execution of their institutions. He stated that two ministries can have the same budget, but one can execute properly while the other cannot, adding that it is dependent on how each ministry manages its money.
“It is not the size of your budget that matters, but rather how you spend it. The administration expects better budget execution this year since last year there were transition issues that required the budget to be recast, filed in April and enacted virtually in May, and the same recast budget had to be reversed twice. As a result, ministries and agencies struggled with planning. He emphasized that now that ministries and agencies have a year to prepare, there should be no excuse for not doing better.”
Tanneh G. Brunson, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, stated that the workshop aims to refresh and enhance policymakers’ and technical staff’s grasp of essential fiscal regulations, budget implementation methods, monitoring, and reporting.
According to her, the program is crucial in improving spending organizations’ ability to execute their budgets efficiently and responsibly. Liberia’s Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning stated that by providing participants with the necessary knowledge and tools, the workshop will help ensure that public funds are used effectively to meet citizens’ needs while also supporting the government’s broader development objectives.
She stated that the workshop aims to: ensure that the FY2025 budget is executed in accordance with the approved National Budget; deepen understanding of fiscal rules, policies, processes, and procedures associated with budget execution, monitoring, and reporting; strengthen the capacity of spending entities to deliver timely and responsible financial and performance reporting; and foster better inter- and intra-ministerial coordination to promote efficient, accountable, and responsive use of public funds.
The session brings together representatives from 108 spending entities.
