Govt needs to see agriculture’s contribution to GDP: Official

THERE is a need to measure the contribution of agriculture to the country’s economic growth, especially its Gross Domestic Product, an official says.
Dr Nelson Simbiken, the acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, said: “We want to see in a coordinated manner capital investment programmes that have been invested in the agriculture sector.
“And we want to see government expenditure (in the) agriculture sector being delivered on government policies.”
He told the department audit committee meeting in Port Moresby on Tuesday that agriculture needed to deliver under the medium term development plan.
He said the government spent money in the department and wanted to see a return to the investment.
The audit committee should therefore ensure transparency in the spending of government funds.
The meeting was conducted by the Department of Finance to find ways to strengthen and improve systems and processes.
Simbiken said an audit must be done on the department to ensure funding allocated to work programmes were spent appropriately.
Department of Finance deputy secretary Sam Penias who chaired the meeting, said the meeting was to ensure money was spent properly and followed processes.
Simbiken earlier urged commodity boards to use funds to promote government policies in their programmes.
Simbiken said the Department of Finance conducted the audit meeting to help them.
He said various boards operated under the department which had budget codes.