Research body cites PEFA benefits

By MAILESI BANDA

ZAMBIA is benefiting immensely from the Public Financial Management Reform Programme, (PEFA) the Policy Monitoring and Research Centre has said.

Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC), executive director Benedette Deka said PEFA had helped the country align its public finance management reforms.

Ms. Deka said various ratings in the report indicate areas that Zambia had performed well, such as transparency with the budget and engagement with the public through the citizen’s budget contributions.

She said another stride had been the development and piloting of the electronic Government Procurement System (e GPS), which is an end-to-end automation of the procurement process to facilitate supplier registration, tender advertisement, bid submission and evaluation, and contract management.

Commenting on Zambia’s performance on the PEFA, she explained that the report provides an evaluation of the Public Financial Management System of Zambia based on Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Framework of 2016.

“The PEFA assessment measured the extent to which PFM systems, processes and institutions contributed to the achievement of desirable budget outcomes.”

“The report also indicates areas were improvement is needed such as enhancing the processes of auditing and addressing the challenges that the Office of the Auditor General faces,” she said.

Ms. Deka observed that Government had been making strides to improve PFM and some of the developments include establishment of the treasury section in the office of the Accountant General to enhance treasury management.

She explained that in view of the developments as indicated in the PEFA report, PMRC had since appealed to the Government to expedite the enactment of the National Planning and Budgeting Bill.

She also advised, Government to expedite the revisions of the Public Finance Act and ensure that it was corrective to abusers of public funds.