Budgeting: Ministry organises capacity building workshop for directors, senior officers

The Ministry of Budget and National Planning has organised a training programme for directors and senior officers in the Department of Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS) in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The training is designed to build the capacity of the beneficiaries on the 2017 budget preparation process.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs Fatima Mede, said at the opening of the three-day programme in Lagos on Tuesday, that it would enhance the planning and budgeting skills of 450 directors and senior officers.

Represented by the Director of Administration, Mr Eze Ezeilo, Mede said that the workshop was planned for 2017-2019 Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS).

“The event brings to together PRS senior officers responsible for the preparation of the sector strategies, plans and budget in the MDAs on the requirements for ensuring successful implementation of the strategic plans.

“We are facing economic challenges as commodity prices, especially oil prices, are declining with negative consequences on our revenue.

“Our fiscal policies must, therefore, change to ensure that expenditure is linked to sound strategy for maximum impact on the common man in the street.’’

Mede said that the challenges necessitated the urgent need for MDAs to prepare the MTSS document.

She said that the document would guide allocation of the available scarce government resources for the implementation of capital projects, to ensure value for money on government spending.

“Through this process, we will set the basis and fundamental parameters (baselines, indicators, inputs, outputs, outcomes) for effective monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes of the MDAs.’’

The permanent secretary told the participants that they were expected to formulate effective plans and implementation strategies for enhanced service delivery.

Also speaking, the Director-General, Centre for Management Development (CMD), Dr Kabir Usman, charged the participants to utilise knowledge to be acquired from the workshop to produce functional strategic plans.

Usman said that they should be able to analyse the importance of the MTSS to national development goals and its critical role in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) process.

“They will be able to analyse the significance of research and statistics in policy making and implementation; critique current project selection and implementation processes.

“They will also be able to use strategic planning techniques for goal achievement and identify impeding forces in strategic planning.’’

In addition, he said that the participants would be able to create an intelligent linkage between strategic plans, policies and budgeting process.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CMD is an agency under the Ministry of Budget and National Planning with the mandate of providing services in the areas of management, administration, and research.

The centre also provides specific organisations tailor-made in-plant programmes to address specific needs.

The theme of the workshop is “Strategic Planning, Plan Formulation and Effective Linkage to the Budgeting Process”.