Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service, Senator Don Wehby, says he will be pushing for the introduction of performance-based budgeting, citing it as a proven tool for maintaining fiscal discipline.

"In my six weeks at the ministry, one of the first things that jumped out at me is the budgeting process, with the many overruns and unbudgeted items in the system," said Wehby, speaking at a workshop for government auditors.

"This is of great concern to me."

While the introduction of a performance-based budgeting system is just a concept for the moment, Wehby says it is something to be seriously looked at and as such he will be holding further discussions within his ministry at the Cabinet level. Pointing to the experiences of the Canadian government as well as the United States under the Bill Clinton administration, Wehby said performance budgeting would offer a better tracking system for money spent by the government and the returns on those expenditures.

Clearly defined outputs

The system links funds to clearly defined outputs, and provides incentives for meeting targets.

The Internal Audit Directorate (IAD) will be key in the successful piloting of such a system, he said, but it will require its members to be internationally accredited and to adopt international best practices and guidelines in carrying out their functions.

"Internal auditing plays a chief role in government regulation and provides a level playing field for all participants," said Wehby speaking at the Government of Jamaica internal auditors symposium held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston. He acknowledged that international accreditation would be costly.

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