The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government launched the first ever integrated "Public Finance Management" (PFM) Strategy based on the principles of promoting efficiency, accountability and transparency within the government system. Minister for Finance, Minister Eng. Muhammad Humayun Khan formally inaugurated the PFM in a ceremony held at federal capital Islamabad attended by the representatives of the donors' community and Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
It is said in a press release issued here on Thursday. On the occasion, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Secretary Finance, Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad, Secretary Planning and Development Muhammad Saleem, Secretary Higher Education Ms Farah Hamid, Special Secretary Secondary Education Farid Qureshi, Special Secretary Health Pro. Noor-ul-eman, Additional Secretary Establishment Aalimgir Shah, Shahid Sharif team leader Planning FATA a part from Additional Secretary Finance Nadeem Bashir and Additional Secretary P&D Shahzad Bangash who made comprehensive presentations to the donors were present.
This Special interactive launching ceremony was also attended by representatives from World Bank Pakistan Office, DFID Pakistan, The Asia Foundation, US Embassy, and US Agency for International Development, AUSAID, Canadian International Development Agency, European Union delegation, Embassy of Germany and Royal Netherlands Embassy in Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister stated that the integrated PFM Strategy is a step towards consolidating the reforms introduced to improve the budget-making process and the financial management of the public expenditure in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
He emphasised rigorous monitoring of the public finance under the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework approved by the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in January 2011. The Finance Minister lauded the efforts of the DFID-funded Provincial Reforms Programme in the public finance management which were initiated last year through the introduction of the output-based budgeting in three departments, which was expanded to twelve departments in 2011.
The Minister said that the approval of the integrated PFM Strategy will prove a key milestone activity in improving governance and service delivery in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Earlier in the workshop, the Secretary Finance of the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sahibzada Saeed Ahmed, welcomed the workshop participants. The Additional Secretary (Budget) Finance Department, Nadeem Bashir, highlighted salient features of the integrated PFM Strategy. These included: 1} making budget strategy by linking policies and plans with the budget, 2} making the budget result oriented, 3} improving budget execution, 4} investing in human resources and 5} improving the accountability systems. The integrated PFM Strategy aims at mitigating risks identified in the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment (PEFA) and Fiduciary Risk Assessment (FRA), the Secretary Finance informed the audience.
The Additional Secretary, Planning and Development Department of the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Shahzad Bangash, made a presentation on monitoring and evaluation reforms being undertaken by government to improve impact of the policies, plans and programmes.
He highlighted three key areas in which M&E reforms are being undertaken by the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: The implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, incorporating citizens' voices in the public sector M&E processes and promoting evaluation to improve public sector performance.
Monitoring is the key to improve governance and accountability, he emphasised. Shahzad Bangash thanked the DFID-funded Provincial Reforms Programme for providing technical assistance to the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for undertaking M&E reforms.
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