Philippine government automates financial management system

President Benigno Aquino III recently signed Executive Order No. 55, which states the creation of a government integrated financial management information systems (GIFMIS) to provide a more transparent and effective way of monitoring the disbursement and appropriation of public funds.

According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., the executive order aims to direct the integration and automation of all government financial management systems to make them more effective.

A memorandum of agreement was entered by the key overseeing agencies of the government namely, the Commission on Audit (COA), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Treasury (BTr), which created the Steering Committee on Cooperation to foster the development of the GIFMIS and to implement the Public Financial Management Reforms Roadmap.

“The committee has already been directed to devise a five-year plan for the development and implementation of an integrated financial management information system that links national government agencies with the COA, DBM and BTr to enable the generation of comprehensive, accurate, reliable and timely consolidated financial status reports for the oversight and the implementing agencies,” Ochoa said in an official statement.

The GIFMIS paves way for the generation of vital information on any and all aspects of government financial transactions, which can be made accessible to the public through the internet.

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