President Akufo-Addo has appealed to the Finance Ministry and the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) to resume their quarterly meetings.
The President said such meetings helped the government in its management of oil revenue.
PIAC has been noted to have some contentions with the Finance Ministry in the past.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the 10th-anniversary celebration of PIAC when he made this call.
“I will in conclusion urge the Ministry of Finance and PIAC to rekindle the holding of their quarterly meetings to ensure that issues of mutual interest are addressed through dialogue.”
He also stressed the need for PIAC to ensure the public has “a better understanding of how petroleum revenue resources are managed and clarify swiftly its position on matters should they be misconstrued in the media space”.
President Akufo-Addo further encouraged the committee to continue to engage Government and relevant stakeholders, and help work towards the economic transformation of Ghana through the efficient use of our hydrocarbon resources.
He said the government is committed to its continued solidarity with PIAC.
PIAC tensions with Finance Ministry
PIAC had complained of a lack of cooperation from the Finance Ministry in its mandate.
It says the Ministry has not been providing relevant data on its Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) utilisation.
It said this consistent turn of event is limiting the effectiveness of the committee and eroding transparency.
In its 2019 report, it described the Ministry as having acted with impunity after it did not account for the use of oil money allocated to the budget.
The first half of 2020 marked the fourth time it had not provided data for this report, according to PIAC.
PIAC has been publishing reports on the management and use of petroleum revenues since the nation began producing oil in 2010.
This is in line with Section 56 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815).
