Γενικό Λογιστήριο της Δημοκρατίας

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Χαιρετισμός της Γενικής Λογίστριας της Δημοκρατίας στο 16th CFO Management Forum & Awards που διεξήχθη διαδικτυακά στις 15 Σεπτεμβρίου 2020 από την εταιρεία IMH


Good afternoon everybody,

It is with great pleasure that I am addressing the 16th CFO Forum today and allow me to extend my thanks to the organizers Ernst and Young and IMH for opening communication channels between the Community of the CFOs of both the public and the private sector.

The Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus is changing. The constitutional mission of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus, is to oversee the lawful and responsible management of the public financial operations, by supporting the decision-making procedures and securing the effective implementation of the economic and fiscal policies towards the ultimate goal to serve the public interest. The Treasury is responsible for the provision of a modern, comprehensive and effective framework to promote sound financial management in the public sector. We are in the middle of a transformation project that is putting finance professionals and accountants at the heart of the financial management at central and at ministerial level.

As a major step in supporting national PFM reforms, the Treasury has re-structured it’s staff that is posted at each Ministry, in order to reinforce and strengthen financial management capacities throughout the administration. Namely, it has established Financial Management Directorates (FMDs) in individual line ministries headed by a professional accountant who is the Chief Financial Officer of the Ministry concerned. These CFOs will work hand-in-hand with senior line ministry staff and Strategic Planning Units to aid in more strategic planning and budget preparation, to improve ministries’ operational procedures and systems, to prepare timely and detailed financial reports, and to ensure compliance with law and regulations. The Treasury is investing it its staff to ensure that both line ministries and central government, have the support they need to make better financial decisions.

To be able to deliver, beyond training our people, we are running in parallel two game-changing projects. We are introducing Zeus, a new ERP System with a horizontal impact on all the Government and are transitioning to the Accruals Basis of Accounting.

Project Zeus is the design, development and implementation of a modern, reliable and assistive software covering the areas of Accounting, Budgeting, Human Resource Management and payroll/pensions for the whole Government. The successful implementation of Project Zeus is the cornerstone for the envisaged financial management reform, as it will provide the means to harvest the benefits stemming from the financial and administrative transformation put forward by the Government during the last few years.

The introduction of the Accruals basis of Accounting is a long due transition from the cash basis currently in operation. Credibility and transparency are fundamental values for any modern organisation that respects its business partners. In the public sector, these terms reflect the integrity, the capacity and the willingness of the leaders of public administration to provide all information citizens need to enhance the trust of the people to the state. The Treasury is transitioning its accounting rules to a new basis by following international accounting standards and practices. This new “accrual basis of accounting” will provide a clear and comprehensive picture of the government financial affairs, that will enable decision makers to understand the country’s financial opportunities and limitations and make more educated decisions, before engaging the country to new policies or projects. It also allows the taxpayers to evaluate whether their money have been used, not only effectively and efficiently as expected, but also to promote public interest.

How much money do hospitals and schools receive? Does the Government use public money in an effective manner? Is the Government doing enough for the citizen’s well-being? It is legitimate for each citizen to ask these questions and receive adequate answers. The reforms aimed at strengthening financial management across Government are, and will continue to be, critical to provide citizens with evidence of effective use of public money. Expectations in that regard are increasingly high in the Republic of Cyprus and European countries, as governments will continue to tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis.

The challenging context in which the government operates – political, economic, fiscal, etc. – means that success in delivering the reforms will require collaboration between functions, organisations and most importantly between each one of us to learn and improve. To achieve this, the Treasury as a whole is committed to demonstrate leadership, commitment, energy and a willingness to challenge the status quo.

Our vision, as the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus, is to render the government engine a benchmark in the area of Financial Management. We want to provide useful, timely and credible information and present it in a way to facilitate and support an informed strategic decision-making mechanism for the Republic of Cyprus.

We know we are getting into a huge transformation program which is touching upon our long-established processes, systems and roles. As such it comes together with a lot of challenges which we are aware of and have drawn lessons from other organizations’ experience and our external consultant’s expertise in order to tackle them as efficiently as possible. We do what it takes to elevate the Republic of Cyprus financial reporting and decision making to a higher, professional level. By doing so, we know that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Our ambition is to follow the example and the best accounting and other practices of Countries that have successfully implemented such reforms and, adjust to our specificities, the policies that will enable us to support better decision making, based on comprehensive financial information. Implementing the projects while at the same time managing and embedding the change are key to the realization of the envisaged benefits.

We acknowledge that the public sector has a lot to benefit from the expertise and experience of the private sector, that has been mastering these tools and methods for many years now and you as a CFO community of the private sector are our main pool of knowledge where we can draw solutions from. I am sure that there are a lot of experiences to be gained and lessons to be learned in this journey and am looking forward to listen to our speakers’ experiences that will definitely leave us a lot wiser at the end of today’s forum.

– Thank you very much for your attention.