The Ministry of Finance is not ready for oil

Sep 28, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Recently a lot has been done at the Ministry of Finance, no doubt to cater for the expected increase in revenue and expenditure activities as oil production commences in 2020. However, as I will soon point out, it is not enough.
The ministry has upgraded its Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) system and attempted to restructure key departments. Consultants were also hired to chart a way forward. However, most of the recommendations of these consultants were not implemented.
A notable example of this is where a consultant was paid millions of dollars to design a structure for the Internal Audit Department in the ministry, but nothing was done after he submitted his recommendations.
Early last year, the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) submitted recommendations for the Accountant General Department (AGD) in the ministry to be restructured, among other things, and that a Cash Management and Treasury Management section be created within the department.
Early this year, advice from another consultant was sought, and he more or less had the same set of recommendations, but as you would have guessed by now, no effort was taken to implement these recommendations. Key vacancies within the AGD are yet to be filled and some Deputy Accountant General and Assistant Accountant General positions have been vacant for years.
Despite the deficiencies in the structure and lack of qualified personnel in the AGD, the ministry still went ahead with plans of transitioning from cheque printing to electronic funds transfer (EFT) to effect payments. While this was a laudable venture, it was ludicrous to think that it could have ever been accomplished, given the abovementioned deficiencies, and that project was destined to fail from the start – and fail it did.
The IMF had also carried out an assessment of the ministry in 2018, and noted that “Limited capacity at the Finance Ministry will pose significant challenges”.
While the ministry, as was mentioned earlier, did begin to restructure some departments, the haphazard way in which it was done leaves much to be desired and the only tangible benefit was a pay increase for staff in these departments.
While this would partially address the high turnover of skilled staff, the attempted restructuring failed to address the fundamental issues faced by staff across the ministry. Issues such as a lack of succession planning and knowledge transfer plans, outdated Job Descriptions and a clear lack of guidelines and workflows remain.
This was evident when problems arose last year after the IFMIS was upgraded and staffers from the different departments were unsure of their role in the new system.
Last year a lot of payrolls were late, mainly because there was confusion surrounding the budget execution process between the AGD and the Office of the Budget as well as staff in the outlying ministries, of who needs to do what, as well as a lack of budget control mechanisms to prevent the unauthorized transfer of funds between line items.
The non-implementation of the Assets and Purchasing Modules was also not addressed in the recent IFMIS upgrade. Kaieteur News had carried articles about these two modules as far back as 2014 and 2015.
Another activity that is critical to measuring accountability and transparency, and that is yet to be undertaken, is the revision of the chart of accounts, and this too was not part of the IFMIS upgrade.
The restructuring also caused a massive disparity in the remuneration between staff across the ministry, since not all departments were restructured, and most did not receive the salary increases and benefits alluded to earlier.
The help desk officer’s salary in one of the restructured departments is as much as a Chief Accountant’s in the AGD. A Senior Analyst in one of the restructured departments earns more than some heads of departments that were not part of the restructuring.
As a result, there is a growing dissatisfaction in the ministry, and what began as a way of solving the problems of the ministry has further compounded them. Unless the restructuring continues (taking into account the aforementioned defects) and staff receive benefits retroactive from when their counterparts in the other departments that were restructured began to receive additional benefits and salary increases, this injustice cannot be viewed as thoroughly corrected.
I am highlighting these issues not for them to be used as political ammunition, but rather to sensitise the relevant officials so that they can be addressed. I do hope that the relevant officials take heed of my concerns and view this letter in the spirit in which it was intended, and to do whatever it takes to position the Ministry to better manage the country’s financial resources.
Concerned Staffer

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