Marape calls for expenses list

By LUKE KAMA
FINANCE Minister James Marape has warned head of State agencies, district and provincial administrators to submit their 2017 financial expenditure report to the Finance Department before March 31.
Marape issued the warning when announcing the opening of Government accounts for the 2018 fiscal year in Port Moresby yesterday. He was accompanied by Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan and senior officers from the Finance department.
“We have opened the Government accounts and we will expend based on our 2018 budget,” he said.
“I’m sounding an early warning to every agency of the national, provincial and district governments that by March 31, 2018, they should complete the expenditure reports of the preceding year and furnish them to the Finance and Treasury departments.
“We at Finance are up to speed and we are in the process of updating all our financial expenditures.
“And as far as expenditure reporting are concerned under the Public Finance Management Act, all heads of government agencies, departments and district and provincial administrators are required to furnish their financial expenditure reports to Government before 31 March of every preceding year.”
Marape said Finance was working with Department of Personnel Management to ensure agency heads performed their tasks.
He said heads who failed to comply with simple financial reports could be deemed not capable of running their departments.
“I have been Finance Minister for six years and I receive a lot of blame for inefficiencies,” he said.
“I will not tolerate department heads who cannot simply furnish a simple expenditure report to the money we have given them.”