Our discussion may be ended by singling out a few conclusions and recommendations. 7.1 Conclusions The MTEF starts by accepting that resources are limited and they may not become available at the time that they are required. However, looked at in the medium term, such problems can be avoided by prioritizing activities and programmes and phasing some activities and programmes over say, a three-year window. The MTEF allows for broader consultation during budget formulation. This removes the mystery that has always surrounded the preparation of the national budget.
Participation can be all-inclusive so that the resulting budget is fully and widely owned.
As the consultation is taking place, conflicting policies in different sectors can be identified and dealt with. Thus, policies can be coordinated. There is a clear advantage in adopting the MTEF in that in the formulation process both policy makers and technical experts are forced to consider choices open to them and determine the desired budgetary outputs. For this to be done the mission of the particular institution has to be clearly understood. Some ministries may find in the process that their current activities are quite different from what had been originally envisioned when the ministries were first created.