Expenditure & Budget Tracking Processes Country: Nigeria Sabin Peer Review Workshop on Sustainable Immunization Financing, Abuja, 19th – 21st April, 2016 Expenditure & Budget Tracking Processes Country: Nigeria

Overview of Immunization Expenditure Tracking Processes in Nigeria Summary of existing country expenditure tracking process for the routine immunization program Appropriation/Financial Resource Requirements (FRR) Recording, analysis and reporting of expenditure Budget Performance Review Statutory Audit Dimensions of expenditure tracking Vouching & Journalizing expenditure, Preparation of Ledgers & Trial Balance Reporting of expenditure through the statutory financial statements, Audit of financial statement/report by the Auditor General and make recommendations to National/state Assembly Committee on Public Accounts (PAC), Public Accounts C (PAC) ommittee conduct thorough investigations into any case(s) of abuse or misappropriation with a view to recovering any funds lost. Bottlenecks and solutions

THE BUDGET CYCLE - OVERVIEW 1. MTSS/MTEF PREPARATION & APPROVAL 2. PREPARATION OF BUDGET PROPOSAL BY MDAs (using MTEF) 3. BUDGET PROPOSAL DEFENCE & APPROVAL (Ministry, Executive, Legislative) 4. BBUDGET IMPLEMENTATION (Appropriation Act, budget announcement) 5. BUDGET MONITORING & EVALUATION -warrants/release of funds -monitoring

INNOVATIONS Introduction of Single Treasury Accounts (TSA) Introduction of new planning horizon new budgeting technique (ZBB) ZBB is a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be justified for each new period, (every year) - Starts from a "zero base" - Analyzes every function within an organization for its needs and costs - Often builds budgets around what is needed for the upcoming year regardless of whether the budget is higher or lower than the previous one Clearly linked to Government’s policy priorities Allows top-level strategic goals to be linked to the budgeting process by Tying them to specific functional areas of the organization, where Costs can be first grouped ZBB is an improvement on the envelope system, The flexibility of the concept allows for easy adaptation to country peculiarities

Bottlenecks & Solutions Areas for Improvement. Timely implementation of budget cycle: delay in passing appropriation bill, cumbersome procurement procedures –delay in project excution Tracking of sub-national expenditures needs improvement to be more robust and transparent No cash backing and release of budgeted funds owing to dwindling government revenue. Potential Solutions Introducing public expenditure tracking survey, learning from ongoing pilot in Ekiti and Niger States. Zero based budgeting method as opposed to current incremental budgeting method Bottom – up approach in planning, budgeting & tracking Institute transparent and reproducible accounting system at all levels Regular internal and external supervision Transiting from paper based system to electronic system Cash backing dependent on macroeconomic environment of the country.

Conclusion The on-going innovations in expenditure and budget tracking processes in Nigeria will greatly enhance the new initiatives in sustainable immunization financing in Nigeria.