Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE Minister of Finance, Ericah Shafudah, has called for stronger institutional frameworks, greater capacity and a culture of accountability across all levels of government to support the effective and transparent implementation of Outcome-Based Budgeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOver the past few months, we have deliberately transitioned to Outcome-Based Budgeting, moving our national budget away from a narrow focus on inputs and line items towards a public financial management framework that asks a harder and more honest question: what has this expenditure actually achieved for our people? That transition is not easy. It requires new frameworks, new capacity and, above all, new habits of accountability across every vote and every level of government, from central government down to regional and local authorities,\u201d Shafudah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She made these remarks at the 9th Annual Conference of the African Network of Parliamentary Budget Offices, which recently took place in Swakopmund under the theme, \u201cThe Role of PBOs, Institutional Power and Modernising the PBO Toolkit\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shafudah explained that, across Africa, governments are being asked to do more with constrained resources, demonstrate that public money produces public value, and earn the trust of citizens who rightly demand efficiency in spending, transparency and accountability from those entrusted with appropriated public resources. Parliamentary Budget Offices, she emphasised, sit at the very centre of that demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are the institutions that translate complex fiscal information into analysis that legislatures can use, hold executives to account without becoming adversarial, and give citizens, through their elected representatives, a genuine voice in how public resources are raised, allocated and spent, and the impact thereof. Namibia understands, perhaps as well as any country on this continent, why institutional power matters in the budget process,\u201d Shafudah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She noted that reforming the budget process was not simply a technical exercise, but also an institutional one, requiring the officials and institutions responsible for scrutiny and analysis to be adequately empowered, resourced and equipped to support the reform agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is precisely the work your network exists to advance, and it is why Namibia values this conference so highly,\u201d Shafudah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added that the modernisation of the PBO toolkit, which the session focuses on, speaks directly to that same challenge. She pointed to challenges including debt sustainability, climate and disaster financing, growing demands for budget transparency, and citizens\u2019 expectations for timely and credible fiscal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cParliamentary Budget Offices cannot meet these demands with yesterday\u2019s tools. The exchange of knowledge, methodologies and practical experience that this network makes possible between institutions at very different stages of development is one of the most valuable contributions AN-PBOs makes to good governance on our continent. Namibia remains a committed partner in this endeavour. We believe that a well-resourced, technically capable Parliamentary Budget Office strengthens, rather than weakens, the work of a Ministry of Finance, because it ensures that the difficult trade-offs inherent in any national budget are understood, debated and owned not only by the Executive but also by the Legislature and, through it, by the citizens we all serve,\u201d Shafudah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: MICT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter THE Minister of Finance, Ericah Shafudah, has called for stronger institutional frameworks, greater capacity and a culture of accountability across all levels of government to support the effective and transparent implementation of Outcome-Based Budgeting. \u201cOver the past few months, we have deliberately transitioned to Outcome-Based Budgeting, moving our national budget away from a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":401207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n