Stick to Budget, says minister as accounts open

GOVERNMENT accounts are now opened for the 2018 fiscal year after it closed on Dec 11 for the Christmas break.
Finance Minister James Marape said that not all expenditures for 2017 and past fiscal years would be carried forward into 2018.
“The Treasury Department is responsible for managing the micro and macroeconomic policy and is responsible for generating government revenues,” he said.
“We (Finance department) are responsible for Government expenditures, expending revenues collected by the Government and for 2018 fiscal year. We will be very strict with our expenditure based on the allocations made in the 2018 budget.
“We will stick to the 2018 Budget and there will be no expenditures outside the Budget. All expenditures for 2017 and
|beyond are totally redundant now,” he said.
He also urged government agencies and departments to furnish their 2018 work plan quickly to the Finance and Treasury to draw-down expenditures.
“My advice to government departments and agencies is to get their 2018 work plan furnished as early as possible,” he said.
“Based on the work plan, the Finance Department will try its very best to not only honour development budget component but also the important recurrent component as early as January and February.”