Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan says the Government of Liberia has now put in place adequate measures to ensure transparency in all sectors of the Liberian society.

Minister Ngafuan said under the Public Financial Management Act of 2009, the issue of transparency will be addressed across all spheres including, Government, NGO's, Civil Society Organizations and donor partners among others.

Minister Ngafuan said new regulations being promulgated in the post HIPC environment, and the PFM law of 2009 require ministries and agencies that receive donor assistance outside the budget to make regular reports, and that copies of agreement between Government entities and donors be submitted to the Ministers of Finance and Planning within seven days.

Minister Ngafuan disclosed Civil Society Organizations and NGOs who benefit from donor assistance are also required to make regular financial and or performance reports as well as submit audited financial reports to their oversight ministries or agencies.

Speaking at a one-day Aid Management Workshop held on Saturday, July 31, 2010 at the SKD Sports Complex, the Liberian Finance Minister said all monies given to these groups are intended for the benefits of Liberia and therefore those receiving such funds should submit to appropriate scrutiny and accountability requirements.

Minister Ngafuan thanked Liberia's partners for their technical and financial support in helping Liberia reach the Completion Point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. He said the fact that the country has attained HIPC completion does not signal the end of cooperation with the partners who helped us get there.

Rather the country needs these partners even more than ever to create the necessary fiscal space to deal with some of its development challenges. Minister Ngafuan appealed to donor partners not to use the achievement of the HIPC Completion Point as an excuse to back-pedal on development assistance.

He said Liberia needs her partners more because people's expectations have increased, and that government is trying to manage such expectations, especially those that are founded on the premise that HIPC completion point means Liberia has found the solution to all its problems.

The Finance Minister also highlighted the contradiction in the fact that about US$400 million or more is coming to the country through off-budget aid compared to less than US$350 million in the national budget, saying that the aid annex attached to national budget clearly shows the extent to which the greater proportion of development funds is outside Government's control.

Minister Ngafuan urged Liberia's donor partners to now shift the focus to aid effectiveness, and that it was now time that the donors considered the option of putting aid on budget because there was no better evidence of country ownership of development than for donor partners to believe that Liberia and its people are now responsible enough and can allocate external assistance to development objectives.

Minister Ngafuan then reminded donors that the nation's budget is linked to the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), the national policy guide that was crafted with the full support of the partners.

On the subject of participation, Minister Ngafuan said the Government does not just allocate money in the budget in an arbitrary manner. While admitting that Liberia does not have a very prefect system, he said the budget system is more open than ever before. And that more and more Liberians in and outside of pointed Government were becoming interested and involved in the budgetary process.

Minister Ngafuan concluded by challenging the partners to hold Government to better transparency standards and efficiency standards, and warned that the high demand for transparency and accountability should not be limited to government alone but also to NGOs and Civil Society Organizations who also get support from them.

He praised the European Union for its recent generous budget support, in addition to support to the General Auditing Commission, saying the EU's gesture is enabling the Government to perfect its system and build capacity to meet donors' expectation. He assured that there will be rapid improvements from year to year and called on partners to increase their confidence in Government.

Also speaking at the one day Aid Management Workshop, UNDP Resident Representative Moustapha Soumare praised Liberia for reaching the final stage of putting in place an Aid Policy. Mr. Soumare said the aid policy will be a key instrument in increasing national ownership of development and ensuring that external assistance is better aligned to the country's pressing needs.

He admitted that it was the responsibility of development partners to assist government compile accurate and timely data on aid flow. Mr. Soumare said all actual disbursements should capture quarterly and annually. He said aid data capture was critical for budget preparation.

The UNDP Resident Representative said transparent and open reporting of aid flows to Liberia by its development partners, including funds directed to non-governmental entities is fundamental to effective aid management. Mr. Soumare suggested that going forward donors should focus specifically on areas that are linked to the budget cycle, and to supporting the PRS or its successor.

He said a timely and full exchange of information on donor funding of projects would allow government to know where the donors already provided project assistance. Secondly, he said targeted budgetary support could supplement the amount of resources available for allocation through the budget and target donor assistance. Mr. Soumare said the third aspect will be the strengthening of dialogue on critical reform areas that have major fiduciary implications.

Planning Minister Amara Konneh also spoke at the one day Aid Management Workshop that was organized by the Aid Management United at the Finance Ministry. The workshop held under the theme, "A move towards Effective Aid Management and Transparency in Post HIPC-Liberia" was funded by the United Nations Development Program.