Minister Sufian Ahmed, whose order had introduced change, had to issue another order last week keeping the old line item system.
Government offices expecting federal government budgets were to be instructed on February 8, 2010, to submit their budget plans, but, while the ministry pondered the wisdom of shifting to a programme based approach, there was a delay of 15 days. That the approach had never been used before caused a debate among the MoFED's management, finally prevailing in favour of the old system.
Accordingly, on Monday, March 1, 2010, the General Budget Directorate at the MoFED finally sent the letter which asked budget plans and proposals to be submitted in the same old line item budget way.
Sufian Ahmed, minister of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED).
"The decision to change to a the line item budget format came after the understanding of a lack of implementation capacity," a budget expert at MoFED told Fortune.
The idea of changing to programme basis had emerged from a study conducted by the administration of the Government Treasury Improvement Coordination Office at the MoFED.
The office, headed by Mussa Mohammed, made the recommendation with the support of the General Budget Directorate. However, some experts at the directorate cautioned against a swift change to a method that had not previously been used and for which no training had been provided.
"Sufian was eager to see the new budget formula for the next budget year," an official at the MoFED said, "but finally decided that it should held back forj1 one year."
The new formula was recommended because of its emphasis on output, unlike the line item which focuses on input.
"The new method would be good," said a budget expert at the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), "because it helps us avoid the mess of transferring budgets from one project to another."
The ministry will try its best to make sure that the programme based budget allocation system will be implemented for the following year.
Other Headlinens
: African Union Holds Conference on Agric, Food and Climate Change
: Public Jumps for 16 Million Br Worth of Zemen Shares
: Developers to Lose 420,225sqm of Land in Sebeta
: United Bank Shows Record Profits
: Trio of State Owned Banks Invest in Higher Salaries
: Hawassa Curbs Activities of Three-Wheeler Taxis
: Sebeta's Tallest Building Costs 14.7 Million Br
: Habesha Cement Awards Tender of 79 Million Dollars for Factory Construction
: Land Authority Orders Real Estate Firms to Put Construction on Ice
: Major Currency Adjustments Hereafter Rare
: Taxpayers Question Authority's Training Motives of Judges on Tax Law
: Adama Raises Funds for EPRDF Congress
: Court Adjourns Akallukan Criminal Case for Verdict
: Addis Bank Gets Big 'Ok' for Its First Managers
: Pastoralism Against the Odds
: Proper Treatment of Migrants Urged After Reported Deaths in Saudi Arabia
: Refugees Embrace Life 'Out of Camps'
: Ethiopian Troops Launch Incursion Against Militants
: Polaris, MFI Team Up to Modernise Ethiopian Finance
: Firms Amend Bids On Habesha Cement Plant
