2018 Public Investment Budget: Mid-term Evaluation Underway

(Cameroon Tribune) The execution of public contracts nationwide is being reviewed in a five-day meeting in Yaounde.

Statistics from the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) show the global execution rate of the 2018 Public Investment Budget (PIB) stood at 37.93 per cent at the end of the second quarter (June 30). The information was revealed on July 16 in an ongoing evaluation being conducted by MINEPAT in collaboration with the Ministry

of Public Contracts and the Ministry of Finance. The general performance, according to Isaac Tamba, Director General of Economy, Public Investment Programming in MINEPAT, is lower than the rate of execution in 2017 during the same period. The evaluation meeting is a platform for government to diagnose the impediments in the performance of the PIB and proffer concrete solutions. Following directives from Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey, participants in the evaluation meeting expected to end on July 20, are laying emphasis on the physical implementation of projects. The implementation of the PIB is carried out in alignment with budgetary reforms laid down in the Economic and Finance Programme endorsed by the IMF in 2016. It is also influenced by recent reforms in regulations of award, financing and follow-up of government projects; restructurings which are contained in circulars and decrees like the one instituting the Public Contracts Code. Representatives of government Ministries and intuitions like ELECAM, Parliament, and General Delegation for National Security, among others are being advised to master the recent reforms for an effective implementation of the budget.

MBOM Sixtus