The new public accounts for the 2014 fiscal year opened today and the Finance Department is waiting for Treasury to issue warrants to draw down funds from the 2014 appropriation.
Finance Minister, James Marape, announced this to the media in Port Moresby today.
With the opening of accounts, government departments and agency heads have been called to furnish their reports from last year to access 2014 funds.
In what the Finance Minister described as a big improvement in the way business is conducted in this department, the Department, for the first time, closed the 2013 accounts and opened the 2014 accounts in record time.
He said the country had operated on a deficit budget in 2013 and with the government declaring the year as the year of implementation; the department ensured funds meant for projects were disbursed accordingly.
This resulted in the department generating surplus for the department which Minister Marape proudly announced.
He hopes to save more money this year through the implementation of the “One Position, One Person, One Pay” initiative in the Public Service Payroll.
He called on heads of state departments and agencies to submit financial reports of 2013 as called for under the Public Finance Management Act in order to access funds for this year.
He also said departmental heads need to spend money according to their appropriations.
The Department of Education being a good example, with investigations being ordered to establish how contracts were awarded to contractors by the department when there was no money budgeted for.
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