The Impact of Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) on the Public Financial Management System of Ghana

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 3.0, Ghana Telecom University College, course: Msc Supply chain management, language: English, abstract: The findings of this research are expected to answer the following research questions: To what extent do key stakeholders of the procurement process understand the requirements of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (ACT 663) of Ghana? What factors delay procurement activities in the public sector? To what extent has the implementation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (ACT 663) ensured transparency and accountability in the utilization of public funds? Has the implementation of Public Procurement Act, 2003 (ACT 663) influenced government spending? What are the main challenges encountered in implementing the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, ACT 663?Procurement is seen as a strategic fiscal policy or programme used to observe effectiveness and efficiency in the public financial management system of Ghana. As an economic tool for accomplishing national objectives, procurement activities should be adequately planned and executed to realize the following: rapid improvement in resource mobilization, improvement in managing and maintaining debt sustainability effectively, enhancing the public expenditure framework of the country, improvement in revenue generation and a reduction in economic and financial slavery. Key objects of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (ACT 663) includes the following: harmonization of all public procurement processes within the public sector, ensuring public funds are utilized judiciously, economically and efficiently to achieve value-for-money, promoting fairness and competition in public procurement, and maintaining and improving high standards of transparency and accountability to eliminate fraudulent practices in public procurement.Unfortunately, little efforts have been made to evaluate the impact of the causes of delay in the implementation of the Procurement Act, the impact of the Act on government expenditure, savings and debt management, as well as transparency in the utilization of public funds. This research is therefore aimed at obtaining requisite data to evaluate the causes of the delay, impact of the Procurement Act on public financial management as well as the impact of the Act in ensuring high level of transparency in the spending of public funds.