Dr. Apea-Kubi, who was launching the Regional Composite Budget Hearing in Koforidua on Monday, said the process would also involve additional responsibility for the District staff as they present the timely and accurate accounts and reports.

He said the recent passage of the Legislative Instrument (LI) 1961 had also imposed more responsibilities on the assemblies as agents for development adding that 'these responsibilities must necessarily be matched with financial resources to improve the quality of lives of the people at the district level'.

Dr. Apea-Kubi said the current district level budgeting was fragmented, saying that 'most departments adopt a sector-based approach for the resources allocated to them while Districts also follow their Medium Term Development Plan process for the allocation of their IGF and central government transfer'.

He said there was no single district-based budget that addressed the utilization of funds in a district and reflected local and national priorities.

'The Composite Budget concept therefore is to ensure the implementation of Section 92 (3) of Act 462 where planning and budgeting process will be district based, and be informed by district and national priorities and also reflect the same three-year rolling period as adopted in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)'.

Dr. Apea-Kubi said the Composite Budget would deepen the decentralization process, with special emphasis on the fiscal decentralization, which had not kept pace with efforts on both political and administrative decentralization.

He said 'a composite budget is an integration of a projected revenue and expenditure of the MDA including decentralized departments with the view to minimizing duplication, ensuring cost effectiveness and efficiency in the economy so as to achieve set targets and goals'. GNA