EVERY year when the time for preparation of annual budgets which the Ministry of Finance would submit to Parliament for its approval would have arrived, the Minister of Finance addresses the heads of the Budget Agencies, reminding them of what is expected. Last week, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan spoke at the newly renovated Arthur Chung Conference “Centre and his wide-ranging address is not only of relevance to public servants, but also to the public in general.

The minister outlined some broad principles and government policies which should inform the various budget proposals made: the budget was being prepared on the cusp of the first oil which will be pumped in the first quarter of 2020 and that there should be a consciousness of this and of the strategic imperatives required.

One of the main government policies is that the Green State Development Strategy must be integrated into the budget proposals as far as possible. In this process, the departments should work with the private sector towards realising the Green Economy. Another principle which should be instilled in the budget is reduction of costs and the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) could greatly facilitate in achieving this end. Phasing out the use of paper is one such economy. As an example of this, the minister pointed out that in his ministry e-copies of circulars, invitations and notifications and even e-Christmas cards are used. In making Accounts and Financial Papers, use of ICT should save paper and improve speed and accuracy.

For local meetings, ICT conferencing could be used to save time. With regard to foreign meetings when officers had to travel to foreign countries, incurring travel and hotel costs and expending foreign exchange, such meetings could now be attended by conferencing.
The government has been supporting agro-processing and local industry. Ministries and public servants and indeed the public as a whole should buy local products. For example, despite the fact that drinking water of the highest quality is produced by several well-established local producers, some of whom have ISO certification, ministries and public servants still buy and serve imported water. Fruit cocktails often use imported fruits, though local fruits are easily available and are fresher, more nutritious and tasty. And the same goes for confectionery, soda crackers, beers and rums, ice cream, yogurts, margarine or several other products which are world-class; in the case of rums, indisputably the best rums in the world.

In building, the minister advocated the use of local materials as far as possible. Government departments which do building should ensure that their bidding documents encourage the use of local building materials. The minister is well aware that public servants almost mechanistically request increases for their various budget heads. He called for public servants to take a page out of the books of private sector managers and evaluate and justify all spending on business principles.

He referred to two sectors which absorb nearly one-third of the budget expenditure. The health sector accounts for 12.5% of the national budget and the education sector 17.2%. Referring to the health sector, the minister rhetorically asked, “Why do we have to have increasing allocations to the health sector, while continued shortages of drugs and less hospital inspections than previous years prevail? How will the conundrum of increasing allocations but declining availability be resolved?” In similar vein, he rhetorically asked “Why with increasing allocations to education, less than 50% of our children are passing Math and English?”

The minister also repeated the warning that the forthcoming oil revenues must be carefully used to develop a diversified economy and not wasted despite pressures and temptation to do so. The minister left the managers with the following charge: “Accountability, transparency and good governance must be core principles that drive us to excellence in our work ethic and work output, thus enhancing our capacity to deliver results, services and works to the people across our 10 regions”. Minister Winston Jordan charges and advice are timely and relevant and we fully endorse them.