This Country Financial AccountabilityAssessment (CFAA) aims to assist the Government implementeffective measures to strengthen public financialmanagement, which would result in more effective economicdevelopment, and poverty reduction programs. While theimplementation of the integrated financial management systemhas improved the Government's ability to control, andmanage expenditure, weak internal controls, and internalaudit capacity in spending agencies hinder the assurance ofefficiency and certification of expenditures. The reportfinds fiscal responsibilities are not managed by theTreasury, but rather by the Office of Public Credit, and theCentral Bank, a dispersion of responsibility for themanagement of public funds which results in functional gaps,directly affecting the security, and control of Governmentfunds. And, while tax administration is improving, theprocedures governing tax collections are still weak,consequently, with no proper reconciliation between thefunds paid by the taxpayers, to that of the funds declaredby banks as collected, and, there is no reconciliationbetween the funds received by the banks, and thosetransferred to the treasury accounts. Furthermore, theexternal audit function is still evolving, following thecreation of the new Audit Court, for which the Governmenthas been supporting a capacity-building program. However,the lack of external audits of the Government'sfinancial statements represents a weakness in thetransparency of public finances. The CFAA suggests as themost urgent need, to upgrade the quality of human resourcesin the public sector. In particular, efforts need to focuson strengthening of the legal, and accountability frameworkfor public financial management, upgrading and modernizingGovernment financial management, and administration systems,streamlining processes and procedures, and, rationalizingand strengthening institutions responsible for ensuring accountability.
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