Good Financial Information Systems for Good Fiscal Transparency

Fmis
Posted by Richard Allen and Gerardo Uña[1] 

The Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) organized two recent events to discuss how good financial management information systems (FMIS) are good for fiscal transparency. One of them was a webinar (http://www.fiscaltransparency.net/publish/) and the other was a working lunch at GIFT’s headquarters in Washington, DC. The webinar moderator was Lorena Rivera del Paso (GIFT), and the speakers were Neil Cole (CABRI, South Africa), Gustavo Merino (Ministry of Finance, Argentina), and Richard Allen and Gerardo Uña, both from Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF. Other participants included representatives of the US Treasury Department, the Open Government Partnership, and the International Budget Partnership.

FAD’s recently published note on “How to Design a Financial Management Information System (FMIS): A Modular Approach” was discussed at the two events.  In addition to the main findings and recommendations of the note (https://blog-pfm.imf.org/pfmblog/2019/05/rethinking-the-design-of-fmiss.html), valuable suggestions were made about the challenges that many developing countries face in modernizing their financial information systems. Key issues raised include the following: 

Many countries continue to face severe challenges in modernizing their FMISs. Events such as those reported above enrich the discussion about the importance of good financial information systems for good fiscal transparency, and good fiscal governance in general.  

 

[1] Both authors are Senior Economists, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF.   

The posts on the IMF PFM Blog should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy.

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