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Speaker of Parliament, Rtd Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin, has stated the activity of debating and approval of the budget and financial policy proposals of the President is very crucial to the health, well-being and quality of life of the country and its people.
The legislature, he said, is mandated through various Constitutional provisions to take measures to ensure the budget and financial statement address the needs of the people to create and establish a just and free society.
According to him, Parliament has to therefore always employ and put into use all its functions, skills and tools of deliberation, representation, lawmaking, financial scrutiny, oversight and priority setting to ensure that.
Addressing the opening ceremony of a three-day post-Budget workshop for members on Sunday, the Speaker noted that the decision-making process by the House in respect of budget approval should be evidence-based and informed.
This, he said, requires readily available data and information that MPs can rely on for deliberation but pointed out access to such relevant and high-quality information is limited.
He said, “Information and data such as the impact of the budget on women and children, the youth and aged, rural as against urban areas, and how aligned the budget is to the national priorities is crucial in the debate and approval of the budget.”
“Parliament, as presently constituted, lacks the ability to independently analyse budgetary information within such short time frame; not because members have no such capacity but that Parliament is constrained by several constitutional, legal and institutional weaknesses among other constraints.”
The workshop, he stressed, therefore offers MPs the opportunity to listen to presentations, explanations and views on both the technical and practical aspects of the Budget to equip them with the necessary understanding and tools to adequately discharge their responsibilities of ascertaining the extent to which the budget addresses the numerous problems of constituents.
“One critical role Parliament plays in the budget process is the guardian of the public purse to ensure Government does not make additional expenditures other than those approved by Parliament,” he said.
During the course of the workshop, members will be taken through a number of interesting topics that include: “Policy Underpinnings of the 2021 Budget – General Analysis”, “Overview of the 2021 Budget – Macro Economic and Fiscal Management”; “What to Consider in Analysing the 2021 Sector Budgets and “Employment Generation and Public Sector Wages – The 2021 Budget.
Others are “Decentralization of 2021 Budget and Composite Budgeting,” and “The Health Sector, Covid and Post-Covid Management among others.
Parliament has scheduled to commence debate on the budget on Tuesday 16th March 2021.
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Frontpageghana.com/Ghana
