The Minister of Finance and Budget, Mamadou Moustapha Bâ, who yesterday chaired the launch of the 2023 management, set out the main guidelines for the execution of the 2023 budget, set at 6411.5 billion CFA francs.
The 2023 budget management was officially launched yesterday. An opportunity for the Minister of Finance and Budget to present the main guidelines for the mobilization of credits for the said management. Thus, indicated MamadouMoustapha Bâ, “the 2023 management will see the acceleration of the implementation of the Medium-Term Revenue Mobilisation Strategy (Srmt), which will result in the broadening of the tax base and the ‘improvement of recovery’. “As in the past, our country will continue to adopt a moderate and prudent debt strategy and to pursue the policy of optimisingand rationalising public expenditure. To this end, in order to avoid dysfunctions detrimental to the 2023 budget management, I have instructed the Director General of the Budget to take all the necessary measures to support you in the effective execution of the expenditure of your respective departments.
Thus, the start of the 2023 management was effective on the first working day of the year, with an execution rate of 5%, as we had committed to at the end of the 2022 budgetary marathon« , explained the State treasurer yesterday. In addition, he informed, « the present management will be marked by the continuation of budgetary reforms with an increased accountability of the actors, which should be reflected in the process of the execution of the budget by a better efficiency.This accountability is, however, accompanied by a strengthening of internal budgetary control and the intra-annual planning of the expenditure to be executed.”
Pursuit of Budgetary Reforms
In this process of implementing internal control, underlines the Minister, « the services of the General Directorate of the Budget, with the support of the Technical Assistance Project for the implementation of the Emerging Senegal Plan (At-Pse), have provided support to five pilot ministries (Ministries of Health, National Education, Vocational Training, Women and Mines), through training sessions on internal budgetary control, mapping of risks and risk-based auditing.These activities will continue to better equip the actors so that they can better internalise the new standards and techniques of public finance management. In this respect, internal budgetary control would make it possible to anticipate the establishment of hierarchical or modulated control of expenditure where managers will be at the heart of budgetary control in perfect harmony with the spirit of the reform.”
With regard to intra-annual planning, informs Mr. Bâ, « it will make it possible to evaluate, plan and monitor the rate of consumption of credits allocated to ministries and constitutional institutions, through better articulation and consistency of quarterly commitment plans, expenditure ceilings with the procurement plan and the State cash flow plan.
These tools are developed with reference to Order No. 037031 of December 7, 2022, setting the terms for implementing budget planning for public expenditure. This framework recommends the establishment of a steering committee, a budget execution and cash flow monitoring committee and an internal committee in charge of commitment plans within each ministry and constitutional institution. These instruments make it possible to ensure better prioritisation of expenditure, taking into account their urgent, incompressible nature and their seasonality. Good budget programming is one that knows how to anticipate expenses, which takes into account cash flow constraints, our objectives in terms of deficit target for each period.
The regulatory framework for planning will be completed by issuing an instruction which will constitute the operational framework.”
The Minister of Finance and Budget, who performs the function of budget regulation, through the budget controllers, promises to “proceed, in conjunction with the spending of ministries, with the determination of the quarterly commitment ceilings. These ceilings, in connection with the cash flow plan, will serve as a basis for the development of commitment plans consistent with the procurement plans.”
As a reminder, the budget for the year 2023 was set at 6411.5 billion CFA francs. According to the Mfb, it « is built on the assumptions of a gradual resumption of economic activity with the major event being the start of the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources, which should have an impact on economic growth, expected in 10.1%, compared to 4.8% in 2022 and 6.5% in 2021”.
By Dialigué FAYE / dialigue@lequotidien.sn
- Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH
