by Delly Bagu – EM TV Port Moresby
The 2015 National Budget has been predicted to be a tough one. Visiting Australian National University (ANU) fellow, Paul Flanagan, made the observation today at the National Research Institute (NRI).
He made the comments when giving a presentation on the Promoting Effective Public Expenditure (PEPE) research findings and the national budget at the joint budget forum and report launch.
The report is titled “A Lost Decade? Service Delivery and Reforms in Papua New Guinea 2002-2012”.
It is based on two years of research and two surveys ten years apart by a team of researchers from the NRI and ANU, including Stephen Howes, Andrew Anton Mako, Anthony Swan, Grant Walton, Thomas Webster and Colin Wiltshire.
One of the authors of the report and Director of the ANU Development Policy Centre, Professor Stephen Howes, pointed out financing matters as one of the four crucial factors that explain the differences in performance between sectors, provinces and facilities.
According to visiting ANU fellow, Paul Flanagan, this brings us to the starting point of implications of the budget.
Using numbers from the 2014 budget and its multiyear framework, the figures for the education and health sectors show movements in their expenditure, signalling tough calls in the 2015 National Budget.
The PEPE research report is based on a survey of more than 350 primary schools and health clinics across eight provinces throughout the country.
Australian High Commissioner Deborah Stokes stressed the importance of this type of evidence in informing budgets.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YFqbyaVHE7Q%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
