The International Monetary Fund (IMF), through its fiscal division, commended the Philippines for proactively improving its public financial management (PFM) systems through digital transformation during one of the sessions of the IMF-World Bank (WB) annual meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco.
“The Philippines, especially the Department of Budget and Management, was rising to the challenge and they wanted to resolve issues [related to the PFM]. Hence, they wanted to proactively take support from the IMF. They wanted to work on several parallel fronts including some key decisions,” IMF deputy division chief Sailendra Pattanayak said during the recent capacity development talk on Transforming Public Finance through GovTech.
Last June, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order No. 29 directing the full digitalization of PFM processes through the adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) throughout the bureaucracy.
To support this, the DBM sought partnerships with development partners such as the IMF to provide technical assistance on designing and formulating strategies to modernize PFM systems and improve interoperability. A technical mission on digitalization spearheaded by the IMF-Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) was then conducted from June 6 to 20, 2023.
In the same capacity development session, DBM principal economist Joselito R. Basilio highlighted the importance of adopting GovTech solutions in the digital transformation of PFM processes across government agencies.
“GovTech shall be harnessed in order to maximize the benefits of digitalization, directing these benefits and overall welfare to the stakeholders themselves—the general public and government agencies. User experience is therefore of paramount importance,” the chief economist said.
He also emphasized that DBM will continue collaborating with the IMF to ensure that international standards are met.
Moving forward, the PFM committee, composed of DBM, Department of Finance, Commission on Audit, and Bureau of the Treasury, will create a PFM reforms roadmap containing policies and strategies on digitalization, including the adoption of the IFMIS and the BTMS by the 3rd quarter of FY 2024.
The Philippine delegation, headed by DOF Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, attended the annual IMF-WB meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco from October 9 to 15, 2023 and met with development partners, central bankers, private sector executives, and other stakeholders from around the world to discuss the country's strong macroeconomic fundamentals, growth outlook, and investment opportunities. (DBM/PIA-Caraga)
