To create efficiency and save money, the national budget should begin with Ministries’ plans and priorities, Lovell says

Former Minister of Finance Harold Lovell says the Government needs to put proper mechanisms in place to justify its spending, as was done during the United Progressive Party’s tenure in office.

He notes that the national budget process would begin within the Ministries, where the technicians and the permanent secretaries would create their budgets based on requirements and priorities.

These business plans would then be submitted to the Ministry of Finance and have to be justified.

This is a process that worked and saved the Government and the taxpayers money, he says.

According to Lovell, this process also acted as a guide for the UPP Administration to decide which programmes could proceed and which should be shelved.

Meanwhile, he recalls the Party’s philosophy on budget allocation and spending when it was in office.