The Public Financial Management Committee (PFMC) has made significant strides toward achieving the Marcos administration’s socioeconomic goals of bureaucratic efficiency and sound fiscal management.
During the recent PFMC meeting, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman reiterated their continued thrust in using digital technology to pursue Public Financial Management Reform agenda, as well as the milestones reached by the committee.
PFMC is comprised of principals from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of Finance (DOF), and the Commission on Audit (COA).
Pangandaman revealed that the PFMC approved the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems, along with its draft executive order, and adopted the proposed Progressive Budgeting for Better and Modernized (PBBM).
The budget chief noted that the adoption of the IFMIS will enhance the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) and promote the use and enhancement of the New Government Accounting System or eNGAS and eBudget.
IFMIS also allows the decentralized and localized development of financial solutions/systems subject to centralized guidelines, Pangandaman said.
The BTMS is a centralized database that will facilitate the generation of vital information on government financial transactions; enable real-time mapping of transactions and allow expedient and accurate financial management, improved data governance, and enhanced oversight control.
“Through this digital transformation program and the development of a convergent hub, we will be able to have real time and consolidated reports, achieve efficiency of government systems, ease of doing business and sustainability of systems, and establish conditions that would help reduce corruption and poverty incidence,” Pangandaman said.
In line with this, the committee has also drafted a proposed Executive Order to update EO No. 55.
The proposed EO will direct all departments, agencies and instrumentalities including state-owned firms to adopt and implement IFMIS in the processing of government financial transactions.
“With the transition to the full adoption of IFMIS, we hope to secure the digital transformation objectives in our 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and achieve not only transparency and accountability, but also bureaucratic efficiency, sustainability and, ultimately, economic growth through proper use of technology,” she explained.
Lastly, the PFM Committee also adopted the draft of the proposed PBBM Governance Act. The initiative seeks to institutionalize PFM principles for best practices in cash budgeting.
“All these will move us closer to our socioeconomic goals of bureaucratic efficiency and sound fiscal management,” Pangandaman said.