Accountable and transparent financial processes of Government as the hallmark for better and effective management of Public Sector Finance is the topic of discussion at the ongoing Executive Leadership Training workshop for permanent secretaries at the Public Service Commission (PSC) Centre for Training at Nasese.
PSC permanent secretary Mr Parmesh Chand said today’s session encompassed broader economic issues provided by the Reserve Bank of Fiji on the status of its monetary policy and the state of the economy.
Mr Chand said in view of discussions, the workshop was intrinsically valuable for permanent secretaries since it showed how ministries should manage their public finances transparently for the purposes of procurement and operational expenditure.
In view of government’s Financial Management Reform, all permanent secretaries have been issued financial instructions and finance manuals to help guide them in ensuring that public finance management is conducted in an accountable manner and to ensure there is smooth flow of disbursement and the accountability of funds in the implementation of projects.
“The workshop is very useful since we are discussing the procurement guidelines provided by the Fiji Procurement Office, which is largely built around the principles of good governance, value for money, transparency and accountability, why do we need to follow the tender process, why the requirements are stringent in certain areas, which is largely to protect those concepts like value for money and ensure there is transparency and accountability and good governance and all those safeguards,” he said.
The afternoon session focused on audit and finance control issues, which are equally important since these are the instruments Government has put in place to ensure there is proper accountability for use of government funds.
Mr Chand said the focus would be on the internal audit organised by the Ministry of Finance and the role of the Auditor General’s office and other finance control measures the Ministry of Finance places from time to time.