Analysis team to review 2020 budget

A Floating Budget Analysis team comprised of members from various Pacific parliaments are meeting at the National Parliament this week to review the 2020 National Budget for Papua New Guinea.

The team, under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) “Floating Budget Mission”, travelled to PNG to work with their counterparts to strengthen the capacity of the PNG Parliamentary Committee Secretariat.

They will provide budget analysis documents and briefing papers to the members of Parliament to get them to better understand the technical and key areas of the budget and any accompanying important legislations. It will then also assist the MPs prepare for the debates and the deliberation of the budget in the Chamber.

The team will work closely with the PNG Parliamentary Committee for Plans and Estimates to prepare these briefs for submission to Parliament.

Apart from this, other meeting outcomes include information sharing, recommendations on improving the budget scrutiny process and strengthening the capacity of staff in research, budget analysis and preparation of budget briefings.

Team members from Fiji, Solomon Islands and Samoa are already here in the country while New Zealand, Queensland Parliament, Tonga and UNDP representatives are expected to arrive today.

Acting Clerk of Parliament, Kala Aufa, who requested the meeting to be held in PNG, welcomed the team yesterday and wished them well and encouraged them to learn and share as much information as they could during their two-week stay in Port Moresby.

The program assists parliaments by building capacity of legislators and technical staff, promoting institutional reforms, strengthening parliament’s relationships with the executive and judiciary branches of government and civil society. It also enhances the effectiveness of women members of parliament and improves their ability to come together and learn from one another.

More than 60 parliaments globally participate annually in this program to strengthen their capacity to foster good governance, inclusive development and public accountability.

(The staff and management of the PNG Parliamentary Committee Secretariat and their Fiji, Solomon Islands and Samoa counterparts during their briefing yesterday at Parliament House)

Author: 
Press release