Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Peter Turnquest said the decision of how to cut 10 per cent of each Government’s Ministry’s budget must be carefully reviewed.
“We will ask our Permanent Secretaries in their roles as Chief Financial Officers and our Directors, in their technical role, to review the services and programmes that are offered and to look for areas of wastage, duplication, low-level priorities and extravagance.”
The DPM was speaking at on Fiscal Reform & Accountability in Government Finance during a meeting of Rotary Club of West Nassau at Poop Deck Sandyport, July 27, 2017.
He said the Government has also taken the decision to control the purchase of government cars and to review their utilisation as well as reduce international travel in a small way to demonstrate by personal sacrifice that it is serious about the change it is calling upon all of its stakeholders to undertake.
“While these expenditures represent a small percentage of the budget, we are of the view that every little bit helps.”
DPM Turnquest noted however that the proper functions of Government will be carried out and it will continue to be represented as required in the international arena.
“We expect to ramp up our investment promotions to jumpstart the economy over the coming months.
“However, the business case for expenditures must be made. This is a practice in the private sector that will be strengthened within the public sector as we take and encourage our internal stakeholders to take an entrepreneurial view to Government business and services provided to our clients [namely] you the public.”
He said it is on this basis that the civil service will be reviewed, certainly within the Ministry of Finance, as it leads the way in necessary reforms.
The DPM said, “In addition to taking steps to reducing public spending, measures which include cutting the expenditure of all Government Ministries by 10 per cent and freezing public sector recruitment, the Government will also implement a package of reform measures specified in the National Development Plan on Fiscal Responsibility.
“These measures are aimed at improving government transparency and accountability, overspending and reduce government debt to prudent levels.”
He noted that some of the recommendations the Government will implement includes strengthening the Office of the Auditor General by increasing the Budget of that office, by conducting a review of the Financial Administration Act 2010 and subsequent amendments with a view of strengthening it where appropriate, the provision of Parliamentary oversight over Government’s expenditure of public funds, and the provisions on the appropriation and management of public resources including government departments, bodies and state-owned enterprises.
DPM Turnquest said the Government is also in the process of developing fiscal responsibility legislation inclusive of consultation with the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank that will provide a legal framework for reducing government debt to prudent levels, ensuring government’s expenses do not exceed predetermined levels such as debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), wages to GDP, and for expenditure growth caps, capital expenditure caps and for prudent management of fiscal risks facing the government.
“The Government realises that there is an urgent need to reduce Government debt and actions will be taken to assess the country’s current debt sustainability framework with the aim of developing programmes to reduce the costs of financing -- there are some innovative discussions going on within the Ministry surrounding that particular issue.”
He said the Government will also introduce programme-based annual budgets to improve fiscal management and will introduce strong controls and accountability policies within the Ministries and agencies.
“In other words, we want to make sure that as we go through the next budget cycle, we encourage Ministries, agencies, departments to focus on their programs to ensure the funds being allocated are in fact needed, they bring value to the public service, to the Bahamian people and that these programmes are not duplicate or cannot be done more efficiently by the private sector,” DPM Turnquest said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Peter Turnquest addresses a meeting of Rotary Club of West Nassau on Fiscal Reform & Accountability in Government Finance at Poop Deck Sandyport, July 27, 2017. (BIS Photo/Raymond A. Bethel, Sr.)
