IEA study: Right the ills of budget preparation, implementation and oversight in Ghana

Perennial budget overruns and their adverse effects on the economy have attracted widespread concerns.

Motivated by these concerns, this paper assesses institutional processes, arrangements and the legal framework for budget preparation, implementation and oversight in addition to carrying out a survey of relevant budget implementers and overseers.

The paper by Dr. J.K. Kwakye and Dr. Nkechi Owoo, finds that budget preparation is largely in conformity with international standards, with the exception of not being informed by any “fiscal rules.”

Also, ab initio, budget allocations often fall short of expenditure requests by line ministries, which is a recipe for spending overruns.

The big problem, however, lies at the implementation and monitoring stages where there are severe deficiencies, including laxities in managing control systems and weak parliamentary oversight.

The paper makes far-reaching recommendations for entrenching budget discipline in Ghana.

Click to read the entire research.