STRONG FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS

Building a strong public financial management system is everyone’s business, says the Supervising Permanent Secretary for Finance and Treasury.

Elizabeth Kausimae made the statement this morning, at a workshop for journalists and the civil society on public financial management, and its reform roadmap.

The workshop was an initiative of the Ministry of Finance to increase public awareness of the financial management reforms that Cabinet had approved and launched in July this year.

Miss Kausimae told journalists, a robust financial management system will help build a prosperous Solomon Islands.

“Building a strong finance management system is everyone’s business. We in the Ministry of Finance have a central role. The Ministries and SOEs play a vital role in their management of their own budget. The public also has a role in advocating for strong financial management systems. You the media and our friends from watchdog agencies have an important role of informing the public.”

The Supervising Permanent Secretary adds the Government tried to make the Roadmap home-grown, and it outlines actions the Government will take in areas of financial management.

“The roadmap outlines the action, what the government will take in areas of financial management including revenue generation, budget allocation and expenditure control. These measures will help government to improve procurement practices, eliminate fictitious workers, strengthening expenditure controls and help reduce revenue arrears. It will also improve the accountability to the people on how government uses public funds.”

The Public Financial Management workshop was attended by representatives of media and certain advocacy agencies in Solomon
Islands.