Almost two years later… Public Debt System still to be fully automated –Auditor General

Oct 31, 2018 News

Auditor General Deodat Sharma

During November 2016, with the aid of Commonwealth Secretariat through technical assistance, the Ministry of Finance was able to begin the process of having the Public Debt System computerized. This was done using the Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording Management System (CSDRMS).
But when Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, carried out his audit for last year, the system was found to be partially implemented. While it allowed for the Debt Management Division to have the authority to record, input and validate all data entered into the system, Sharma said that the Public Debt Section has only real-time viewing access and cannot input data and customize reports.
In response to this, the Finance Ministry said it started the process of computerizing the activities of Public Debt. Officials said that it connected the Public Debt Section in 2014 to the Debt Management Division’s CS-DRMS.
They said that the intent is to operationalize the Domestic Debt Module and to use the system reports for reconciliation.
Further to this, the Ministry said that training occurred for staff attached to this section at the end of 2016, in the use of the new CS-DRMS version. It stressed however that the necessary skills required to extract the requisite reports for verification and reconciliations has not been acquired to date.
Additionally, the Ministry said that the department will utilize fully, the CS-DRMS through one database housed at the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry noted that the preparation of the Public Debt Statement will be done using the new system.
It explained that this means that an end to the reliance on the manual records in the Public Debt Section as the CS-DRMS would become the single repository for all debt related transactions.
It continued, “As the Public Debt Department moves towards automation and use of information technology (CS-DRMS), updating of the old manual registers will soon become redundant. The aim of installing and upgrading to the Commonwealth Secretariat–Debt Recording and Management System in the Public Debt Section is to eliminate the use of manual registers and remove issues of completeness and accuracy in the information captured.”

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