Ngangan says public finance needs transparency

FINANCE secretary Ken Ngangan has called on relevant government agencies to work together to make the public finance management system transparent and accountable.
Speaking at the finance information forum yesterday, Ngangan said all state agencies had a responsibility to transact public funds to contribute to the greater call of making PNG “the richest, black Christian nation”.
“We have achieved a lot with the reforms for those that we have set out to do in our respective organisations,” Ngangan said.
“These reforms were undertaken in 2013 when Prime Minister James Marape was the Finance Minister.
“Marape was a great supporter of the reforms and we achieved a lot.”
Ngangan said the main reform was the amendment to the Public Finance Management Act 2016.
“The Act has strengthened the legal framework in which public funds are managed,” he said.
Ngangan said the second reform was the introduction of the public expenditure and financial accountability (PEFA).
“We are commencing the review of the National PEFA from which will result in another road map taking stock of what we’ve done and what needs to be done.”
He said the other reform rolled out was the integrated finance management system.