Page 73 - Parliament Budget Office Annual Report 2022-2023

economy during the first (1st) quarter of the 2023/24 FY to develop and strengthen the modelling capacity of the Office and that of Parliament.
u participation in relevant workshops, seminars, symposiums, webinars, and other events to keep abreast of evolving developments in the public finance arena.
u upskilling of staff to equip personnel with the latest technical skills.
u optimization of ICT platforms and tools of trade to enhance the service delivery capacity of the PBO.
5.4 COVID-19 lessons on the future of work
u The PBO will continue to utilise the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of its business operating model, that is, the hybrid operating environment which altered the nature of work globally in terms of the traditional physical confinement of workers in brick and mortar workspaces.
u Parliament should optimise the remote
framework to minimise costs, to optimise operational efficiency and effectiveness by exploiting and deploying 4th industrial revolution technologies, and to mitigate against future pandemics and unknown occurrences as a means of ensuring business continuity.
5.5 International & continental engagements and participation
As one of the dedicated offices established by some Parliaments in some parts of the world, participation in domestic, continental and international stakeholder engagements provides the PBO with immense opportunities that enables the Office
u to keep abreast of evolving changes in the international public finance oversight landscape
u to exchange best practices under a single roof from other PBOs during multilateral meetings such as the
• The African Network of Parliamentary Budget Offices (AN-PBO)
• The Annual Meeting of OECD Parliamentary Budget Officials and Independent Fiscal Institutions
• The Global Network of Parliamentary Budget Officers (IFSD) and
• Other key international stakeholder engagements
The PBO has participated consistently in the above continental and international multilateral formations, acquiring valuable best practices, information and data as well as the fostering of invaluable strategic relations. The AN-PBO is a continental multilateral formation whose creation was spearheaded by the South African Parliament in 2016. The network brings several African PBOs and similar offices together annually/periodically to exchange best practices on the technical support African PBOs could provide to their respective parliaments. The South African Parliament hosted the inaugural AN-PBO conference in 2016 and the second and third conferences in 2017 and 2018. The 4th AN-PBO conference which the South African PBO unfortunately did not partake in, was hosted by the Parliament of Ghana in 2019.
The 5th AN-PBO conference was hosted by the Parliament of Zimbabwe during the 2022/23 FY while the PBO plans to participate at the 6th AN-PBO Conference: Kenya during the 2023/24 FY. The Parliamentary Budget Office Director was elected as the AN-PBO Chairperson of the network governing council by the 2022 Harare Conference Resolution. The Director therefore has certain responsibilities at the AN-PBO Meetings and other activities. Participation by the South African PBO at AN-PBO conferences is critical as it enables the Director to fulfil his Chairmanship obligations while concomitantly keeping abreast of developments of the AN-PBO.
While strategic prioritise evolve over time, the PBO will continue to forge strong international relations through future participation at the OECD Network for Parliamentary Budget Officials and participation at other PBO relevant multilateral and bilateral interactions. The South African PBO will participate physically at the 15th OECD Network meeting. Continued participation in the above multilateral formations and other stakeholder relations enables the PBO to acquire evolving best-practices that empowers the Office to provide enhanced evidence-based technical support to parliamentary committees and the strengthening of the organisational efficiency and effectiveness of the Office.
The PBO will utilise the solid ten year’s performance baseline through the provision of independent, objective, and professional advice and analysis to Parliament on matters related to the budget and other Money Bills, to strengthen the constitutional public finance scrutiny and oversight capacity of Parliament. The Parliamentary Budget Office places parliamentary committees at the centre of its service delivery model; the Office undertakes to continue to empower Members of Parliament with timely evidence-based analysis and advise that empowers MPs to undertake informed oversight recommendations.
operating
PARLIAMENTARY BUDEGT OFFICE ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE 2022/2023 FINANCIAL YEAR
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