Utilise funds to meet public expectations, Ghani tells ministries

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani has said the ministries that could not fully utilise their development budgets should explain reasons for their failure to the parliament.

The president made the remarks at an overnight meeting that assessed projects of Ministries of Public Works, Education.

In a statement from the Presidential Palace on Monday, Ghani ordered the ministers concerned to use at least 85 percent of their budgets by the end of the current solar year; otherwise they would have to face the parliament.

“We had some problems on utilising development funds last year, but the people this year expect the government to do better this time around,” the statement quoted the president as saying.

Ghani directed government departments to resolve their capacity problems, because people were awaiting a positive change that would come about with the proper spending of development funds.

The president directed the ministers to work out a clear plan for the distribution of development budgets to the provinces.

mds/mud