Muscat: The Ministry of Finance and the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) on Wednesday signed an agreement for capacity building and training in government units that apply the ‘programme- and-performance budget.
The agreement was signed by Mohammed Jawad Hussein, Finance Ministry’s Adviser and Sayyid Zaki bin Hilal al Busaidi, IPA’s Executive Chairman.
The programme seeks to upgrade the capabilities of directors-general, directors and assistant directors in the 13 government units short-listed for the orientation stage of the ‘programme-and-performance budget’.
The capacity building plan of the said programme, to be carried out in 2020, was drafted by a joint working team from the two institutions. The plan will include nine basic workshops.
The programme seeks to familiarise target groups with ‘programme budget’, notably initiating programmes, setting goals and measuring cost frames in a manner that allows the comparison of costs against the real performance that has been achieved.
The programme is also set to read performance indicators through the calculation of simplified indicators that measure efficiency and effectiveness. This will enable government units to upgrade their performance in a sustainable way and empower target groups to execute strategic plans.
It also comes within the context of a general approach to raise the efficiency of general expenditure. The Ministry of Finance, working in coordination with the World Bank, conducted an assessment study on the present position of the State’s Budget. The study aims to introduce the best international practices on preparing and executing general budgets.
Among these practices is shifting from the ‘allocations budget’ to the ‘programme-and-performance budget’, which can be described as a mechanism to establish a clear link between general spending and the specific goals desired to be achieved. This also applies to preset performance-and-service measuring indicators.
— ONA
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