The sixth annual meeting of senior budget officials of the Sub-region is underway in Yaounde.

Senior budget officials from the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, ( Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo and Chad ) and Burundi are sharing notes in Yaounde on the proper management of public finances, with emphasis on the application of programme budgeting.

The high-level meeting of the International Monetary Fund’s Regional Technical Assistance Centre for Central Africa (AFRITAC Central) Member Countries (FoHBAC) opened last Tuesday,May 24, with the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Elung Paul Che, chairing.

The forum, which is sixth, hinges on; “Transparency and performance in the drafting of Appropriation Bills.”

Delegates to the get-together stressed that the second-generation reforms on the proper conception, implementation and monitoring of public finances (the budget) comes in the wake of the transition by countries of the economic bloc to programme budgeting.

Setting records straight on avoiding errors that at the long run affect development is therefore primary, with experts saying that learning from the experiences of each others, especially Cameroon that was the first to apply the concept in 2013, could do well to member countries.

Minister Elung Paul Che said the Yaounde confab was expected to end with a platform for comparing and evaluating advancements in the finance management reform between member countries.

“There is a need to harmonise experiences,” the Minister said. His views were concurred by FoHBAC’s Vice President, Colette Mata Ngosenganya and the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund to Cameroon, Kadima Kalonji.

Public financial management systems that focus on transparency, accountability and harmonisation with regional directives, are essential for the efficient programming and execution of budgets as well as for economic development, delegates to the forum agree.

Experts will for four days discuss the responsibilities of stakeholders in the budgetary chain on the preparation of budgets and methods of drawing up performance-based designs. Others are cases studies from CEMAC countries.

Curtains to the forum will drop on Saturday, May 28, 2016.