Public Accounting System to be introduced

14 December 2007
Report: Ayya

Ministry of Finance has revealed that the work is under to implement a Public Accounting System (PAS) under the Bill on Public Finance passed by the Majlis.

Ministry reveals that Minister of Finance and Treasury Qasim Ibrahim has signed a contract with Atos Origin of Singapore for the supply and implementation of a modern financial management system on the 13 of this month. Ministry also informs that the contract worth US $ 4.8 Million covers acquisition of computer hardware, software licenses, implementation services, and support and maintenance during the projects implementation.

Funding for the project has been secured through a European Community grant managed by World Bank revealed Finance Ministry.

Speaking at a news conference held to brief the media on last Thursday Qasim Ibrahim said the PAS would revolutionize and strengthen accounting system used by government Ministries. He said beginning from early 2008 significant changes will be introduced across the entire Government financial management function. PAS project will strengthen the financial management framework to comply with the 2006 Law on Public Finance and will set in place controls and procedures to ensure that all government agencies operate in an efficient and transparent manner said Minister Qasim.

Mohamed Ahmed, Government’s Financial Controller speaking at the conference said that the implementation of the new financial management software will bring the government’s finances in to the 21 century. He noted that despite some enhancements and the use of some basic spreadsheet and word processing applications, the payment, accounting and payroll systems are essentially the same as in 1965. He further said these procedures are based on manual processes and are inflexible in providing up to date management information and in supporting the planned changes.

Implementation of PAS will provide high quality information on activities and balances, improved management of fiscal flow and risks, better information and processes for budget allocations, more efficient processing of transactions, fewer opportunities for corruption and theft and transparency of activities and greater accountability.