Target Audience
Mid - to senior level officers from the Ministry of Finance, including from the Treasury, Budget, and ICT departments.
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Qualifications
No formal qualification is required, but it is expected that participants should have experience in working on (or at least exposure to) one of the following areas: fiscal reports, financial statements, budgets, fiscal forecasts, and FMIS.
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Course Description
Having comprehensive, reliable, timely and accessible fiscal data is one of the most important enablers for fact-based decision making and for transparency on the state of public finances. Fiscal data of this nature is critical for effective fiscal management and accountability, and works to ensure coherent fiscal policies, the strategic allocation of resources, and efficient service delivery. At the same time, dealing with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic requires an exceptional effort from society and government, with huge consequences for public finances. In this context, the seminar participants will be introduced to the fiscal reporting standards of the IMF's Fiscal Transparency Code. With a focus on fiscal reporting and fiscal forecasting and budgeting, participants will understand how to identify improvements in fiscal transparency using case studies and examples from the application of the Fiscal Transparency Evaluations. Participants will be introduced to innovative practices of digitalization of PFM and to the benefits of embracing technological innovations for transparency. To promote peer learning, participants will be encouraged to share practices and experiences in the use of various digital tools including fiscal transparency portals and open data platforms. Finally, the seminar will include a discussion on reporting and fiscal transparency practices in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, sharing challenges and lessons learned to build resilience for facing similar events in the future.
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Course Objectives
Upon completion of this seminar/workshop, participants should be able to: appreciate the importance of fiscal transparency and why it matters when managing public resources; understand how to ensure that fiscal reports provide a comprehensive, relevant, timely, and reliable overview of the government's financial position and performance; recognize that budgets and their underlying fiscal forecasts provide a clear statement of the government's budgetary objectives and policy intentions, and credible projections of the evolution of the public finances; identify innovative practices that can facilitate the process of digitalization, as well as common challenges and lessons learnt regarding the role of FMIS; recognize the trends in digital tools/innovations for the publication, communication and reuse of fiscal data to improve the timeliness and quality of fiscal transparency; recognize and prioritize enablers for improving data quality for decision-making and transparency in cases of emergencies such as COVID-19; connect and share experiences with peers who are undertaking various measures and implementing similar processes to improve fiscal reporting and transparency.
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