EU to fund public finance management

GOVERNMENT and the European Union signed an N$80 million agreement yesterday to support Namibia’s public finance management systems.

The Public Finance Management Support Programme (PFMSP) will support the Finance Ministry, the National Planning Commission and the Office of the Auditor General in public service management. This will cover financial planning, enhancement of revenue income, expenditure control, improved governance of State-owned enterprises and capacity building.”This will entail identifying financial risks and their proper management, transparency and accountability to Parliament and the public,” said Helmut Angula, Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC), at the signing ceremony.According to EU Ambassador Dr Elisabeth Pape, the aim is to link a financially sustainable budget to desired social and developmental outcomes.”Together with stakeholders from Government, civil society, private and other development partners, we will carry out a joint annual review that will assess progress made again the benchmarks and targets we agreed during the preparation for this programme,” Pape added.Some of the money will be used to support processes with regard to the annual National Budget.The EU support will be disbursed over two budget years.At the same occasion, Ambassador Pape announced that the new EU funding to Namibia for the years 2008 until 2013 would include N$425 million for Namibia’s Education and Training Sector Improvement Plan (Etsip), plus N$310 million for rural development.This will cover financial planning, enhancement of revenue income, expenditure control, improved governance of State-owned enterprises and capacity building.”This will entail identifying financial risks and their proper management, transparency and accountability to Parliament and the public,” said Helmut Angula, Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC), at the signing ceremony.According to EU Ambassador Dr Elisabeth Pape, the aim is to link a financially sustainable budget to desired social and developmental outcomes.”Together with stakeholders from Government, civil society, private and other development partners, we will carry out a joint annual review that will assess progress made again the benchmarks and targets we agreed during the preparation for this programme,” Pape added.Some of the money will be used to support processes with regard to the annual National Budget.The EU support will be disbursed over two budget years.At the same occasion, Ambassador Pape announced that the new EU funding to Namibia for the years 2008 until 2013 would include N$425 million for Namibia’s Education and Training Sector Improvement Plan (Etsip), plus N$310 million for rural development.