By Za'im Zaini
Bandar Seri Begawan - Government departments were yesterday reminded to clear their dues with other government agencies as dues reached a whopping over B$200 million as of March 31, 2008.
The staggering amount includes electric, water and telephone bills overdue owed by many government departments.
The figure was revealed by Awg Haji Bahrin bin Abdullah, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, at the first of a series of 2008/2009 budget road shows at the Legislative Council building yesterday.
Settling the dues at the right time will enable departments to calculate their revenues swiftly, he said.
He also urged the departments to take steps towards improving and ensuring that revenue collection is done more effectively and to take steps to assist in enhancing the revenue of the government.
The importance of prudent spending was also emphasised because the nation's revenues depend on oil and gas, which are non-renewable resources.
He also spoke on the process of preparing an estimation of the national budget, which takes into account the ability of the government to prepare the financial allocation from the government's revenue in the future, the trend of expenditure, the ability of the government to spend the allocation and the level of implementation of the planned projects.
The nation's revenue depends largely on oil and gas, which is 87 per cent of the overall government revenue at the moment, he said and added that despite the high price of oil and the level of demand, future revenues cannot be forecast.
However, the price of oil is only one of the determinants of the nation's revenue. Other factors which may affect the nation's revenue include depreciation of production from previous years due to the need to upgrade the facility, increase in cost of production due to maturity of wells, as well as the rising cost of production related to high global demands and the depreciation of the value of the US dollar compared to the Brunei dollar, Awg Hj Bahrin said.
He also said the TAFIS system will undergo changes as part of steps made by the Ministry of Finance for the improvement of the budgetary system that will enable departments to distribute allocation internally towards a smoother operation.
Close to a hundred government personnel comprising permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries, directors and senior officers from the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Religious Affairs attended the event, which was aimed at sharing the objectives of the 2008/2009 budget.
The permanent secretary said the Ministry of Finance with the support of BAG Networks Sdn Bhd would make changes to the TAFIS where departments can make budget distributions (internally) whether by partition of the type of expenditure or allocating it according to its sections.
With this facility, soon heads of departments can monitor and have control over the budget and expenditure and those related to them.
The change in the TAFIS is aimed at making improvements including giving flexibility to a ministry or department in handling the budget under certain topics, for example the merger of a number of accounts can be made into one to smoothen the operation of a department and accelerate the implementation of projects and programmes that have been planned.
Awg Hj Bahrin also hoped that departments would focus more on their core business by thinking of ways to reduce their involvement in non-core services ... to be cost effective aside from easing the burden of government expenditure and supporting towards developing the private sector.
In view of this new approach (the PPP approach in providing services), there is a need to handle it with care to achieve what is aspired for, he said.
The event also witnessed a presentation by Awg Nazmi bin Hj Mohamad, Acting Director of Budget, on the 2008/ 2009 budget that included among others challenges in preparing for the annual allocation, and current issues and steps towards improvement.
The aims of the road show were to share the objectives of the 2008/2009 national budget, as well as challenges, opportunities and issues of implementation that are usually , brought up in financial management and budget allocation or what is known as public finance management; the steps taken in improving the budgetary system that has been implemented and on the allocation from the government in total for the financial year 2008/2009.
The road show was also aimed at giving an opportunity to mutually discuss the problems faced in managing the financial affairs of the departments and for the Ministry of Finance to gain feedback to enhance the country's budgetary system. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin |
