The Ministry of Finance and the Economic Management Team (EMT) have started the process of preparing for the 2017 budget and economic policy of the government.

This is according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.

The statement said the focus of the EMT and the Ministry “is to audit the fiscal account and provide a credible basis for economic policy going forward. Our commitment is to restore fiscal policy credibility, and transparency as well as policy clarity.”

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The statement added that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has already held bilateral meetings with various ministries, departments and agencies to review their policies and ensure consistency with government medium-term policy strategy.

“During the review and audit process, MDAs submitted unbudgeted projects and commitment of about 7 billion Ghana cedis, which will have to be validated as the budget process continues. We will have a better sense of the numbers before the budget, and have a team assembled to complete our forensic audit to confirm the validity of these expenses and that value for money was obtained at all times,” it said.

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It assured that “going forward we will rationalise public expenditure, strengthen contract management, and realign statutory funds to priority projects”.

“We are committed to ensuring fiscal discipline and good economic governance, focusing on the transparent and accountable use of public resources in accordance with the new public Financial Management Law.”