E-budgets on trial in economic authorities next March: Finance Minister

Real-time data of expenditures, revenues to raise efficiency of public spending

Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, has reviewed a report about trialing he Government Financial Information Management System (GFMIS) in economic authorities next March; in preparation for actual implementation by next fiscal year.
Maait stressed that the GFMIS contributes to laying the foundations for the transition to a digital Egypt, as it helps facilitate electronic linkage between state agencies, which leads to facilitating citizens' access to public services, in addition to the real-time data provided by this electronic system, raising the efficiency of public spending, and achieving financial discipline.
He pointed out that there is no prejudice to the internal regulations approved by the economic bodies. The GFMIS system is one of the tributaries of strengthening the governance of the state's financial system, which contributes to achieving economic and development goals.
Walid Abdullah, Head of the Central Department of Treasury Budget at the Ministry of Finance, and Director of the GFMIS project at the Ministry of Finance, said that the news system will be on trial in economic bodies from March to June, in preparation for connecting all government agencies electronically. This contributes to creating a strong public financial management system by integrating, controlling, and computerizing all government financial operations, starting with budget.
He added that the ministry has succeeded in implementing the GFMIS in budgetary authorities, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the electronic signature system, and the electronic payment and collection system, in addition to other systems to automate the revenues. This contributes to providing real-time data on budget performance, in order to achieve transparency and financial inclusion.
Representatives of the economic authorities who attended the introductory workshops on the GFMIS expressed their happiness at the start of the implementation of the GFMIS system in the economic authorities, as it included maximizing the utilization of public resources, by strengthening the governance of expenditures and revenues, expressing their thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Finance; for its keenness to qualify them for optimal handling of the government financial information management system.
Mohamed Lotfy, the financial controller of the Social Insurance Authority, said that the new system contributes to the digital transformation of the authority, ending the era of reliance on paper documents, so that the waiting time is reduced and the citizen can obtain the service immediately. In the past, the file of the employee referred to the pension took about a month. Meanwhile, the financial connection will be made through the computer after the application of GFMIS, which means the speed of implementation of the financial appropriations.
Mohamed El-Shazly, Financial Director of the National Academy for Training and Rehabilitation of Youth, added that the GFMIS system achieves the desired integration and interdependence between government institutions and bodies, thus reducing human error in data registration, as well as monitoring the budget in a momentary manner, and keeping pace with the digital transformation pursued by the state in accordance with the vision of sustainable development.
Wahba Mohamed, Head of the Central Department of Financial Affairs at the General Authority for Comprehensive Health Insurance, indicated that the immediate follow-up of all resources and expenditures within the bodies has positive effects on the state budget, explaining that the application of the GFMIS regulates the operations between all these units, and contributes to raising the efficiency of spending in general.