Republic of Ghana : Country Financial Accountability Assessment
This CFAA updates the CFAA of 2001. In summary, the Government of Ghana undertook several initiatives to strengthen its financial accountability systems. New ones are replacing old laws -- the Financial Administration Act; Financial Administration...
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/06/6249685/ghana-country-financial-accountability-assessment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14534 |
| Summary: | This CFAA updates the CFAA of 2001. In
summary, the Government of Ghana undertook several
initiatives to strengthen its financial accountability
systems. New ones are replacing old laws -- the Financial
Administration Act; Financial Administration Regulations,
Procurement Act; Internal Audit Agency Act, and the Audit
Service Act. Major public finance management systems are in
the process of being upgraded and replaced: The Medium Term
Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is now the government's
budget preparation system; budget expenditures are
classified based on administrative and economic functions
and on GFS (Government Financial Statistics);
poverty-reducing expenditures are identified and reported;
control over commitments, arrears, and cash flow has
improved; internal audit arrangements are to be strengthened
with the establishment of an independent Internal Audit
Agency; bank reconciliations have improved; year-end closure
of accounts and submission of annual financial statements
for the Consolidated Fund now meet statutory time frames;
and the core government accounting system is to be replaced
by a new integrated computer system (the Budget and
Expenditure Management System), and the payroll system by
the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Data System. This
assessment concludes that since 2001, the Government's
financial accountability systems have steadily improved, but
that the new laws, regulations and systems still await
effective implementation and full compliance. Part of the
current implementation difficulties stems from attempting
complex reforms with inadequate resources and a lack of
proper change management. These should be addressed to
improve the implementation effort and the chances of
successful public financial accountability reform. In
addition, particular focus is required on the following
areas: (1) timely implementation of the budget calendar; (2)
preparation of more realistic budgets; (3) simplification of
the MTEF presentation; (4) comprehensiveness of budget
information and annual financial statements; and (5) risk
and commitment management. |
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