“ Support for the modernization of public financial management Is the title of the Morocco-EU institutional twinning milestone seminar held on Thursday 25 March. Several officials spoke at this remote event, including Noureddine Bensouda, Treasurer General of the Kingdom, Jean Christophe Filori, Head of EU Cooperation in Morocco, or Abdelkrim Guiri, Director of Research, regulation and international cooperation.
While thanking the Delegation of the European Union for its technical and financial support in favor of strengthening the capacities of Moroccan institutions, in general, and of the General Treasury of the Kingdom, in particular the Treasurer General of the Kingdom, declared that this twinning, which is part of the Hakama program, which establishes the strategic partnership that links Morocco to the European Union.
In his speech, Noureddine Bensouda stressed that this health crisis linked to Covid-19 and its “after»Constitute a great challenge for the institutions in charge of public finances, which will have to redouble their efforts to achieve economic and financial recovery. The objectives assigned to this twinning, he continued, were already important when it was conceived before the crisis.
They are even more so today, noted the manager, in view of the economic situation.
difficult and eminently complex engendered by the COVID19 pandemic, noting that there is no doubt that having modern and effective public finance management institutions and systems is one of the necessary conditions to overcome this sensitive situation at the national and international levels .
” There is no doubt that this Morocco – European Union twinning, which aims to support the General Treasury of the Kingdom in the implementation of public financial management reforms, is of great interest, today more than by the past“, Said the Treasurer General of the Kingdom.
As such, the official reminded that the TGR, in accordance with the guidelines of King Mohamed VI, has been strongly committed for several years in a process of modernizing the management of public finances. She has actively contributed, according to the official, to the design and implementation of several large-scale reforms, in particular the organic law relating to the finance law with its implications, in terms of accounting reform, reform of the control of State expenditure and dematerialization of expenditure, etc.
This set of reforms, specifies Bensouda, which apparently relates to governance, has involved adaptation efforts and considerable changes for the TGR, both in terms of the legislative and regulatory framework, on the organizational and procedural level and above all. , technically and technologically.
He cites as an example the accounting reform, started in 2018, which aims to promote transparency in public finances, improve the sincerity of accounts and allow faster reporting of accounting information for the needs of decision-making, noting that the transition from cash accounting to accruals accounting involves significant changes. As a result, it is carried out according to a cautious and pragmatic approach, Bensouda said.
All these evolutions and transformations in terms of regulation, dematerialization and reengineering of processes, have a significant impact on the business lines indicated the boss of the TGR, noting that it is important that there is a very close support. and effective follow-up in terms of organization but above all in terms of staff training and qualification.
The production of accruals financial statements: a first in Africa
For his part, Christophe Filori, Head of EU cooperation in Morocco observed that among the many consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the weakening of the public finances of States, in a context of new expectations of protection of citizens [pandémie, climat, sécurité], thus placing at the heart of our concerns the imperatives of efficiency and transparency of public finance management
The manager noted that “ in the troubled period we are going through, public managers are required – even more than in normal times – to provide assurances on the resilience of public finances but also on the good use of public funds and the reliability of budgetary and accounting information which are communicated “, noting that these increased constraints therefore call for accelerating the ongoing processes of modernizing public finance management.
” This reform imperative, we underlined it as a priority axis of intervention in our recent – Joint Communication on a renewed partnership with the countries of the Southern Neighborhood – of the European Union. But it is also a theme that appears black in the joint declaration of the European Union and Morocco for a partnership of shared prosperity, adopted in 2019. More precisely in the Area of Economic Convergence and Social Cohesion which includes the will to work towards a strengthened partnership in terms of economic and financial governance ”, he said.
The twinning between the TGR and the Directorate General of Public Finances is, according to the European manager, part of this dynamic of reform, in the sense that it deploys a technical expertise as vast as it is cutting-edge in the fields of accounting production in rights. observed, modernization of control, dematerialization of procedures and staff training capacity.
Among these areas, a priori very technical, the manager insisted on the importance of the objective relating to the production of established rights financial statements which will mark the culmination of a major of the entire accounting system. At the same time, he explained, it will pave the way for the certification of the State accounts for the year 2020 by the Court of Auditors.
According to him, such certification will constitute a first among the countries of the region and on the African continent. It will testify to the quality and reliability of the budgetary and accounting data produced by the Moroccan State, but also to the fact that a continuous process of improvement of these data will be in place for the coming years.
4 illustrative results of the Morocco-EU institutional twinning
Abdelkrim Guiri, Director of Research, Regulation and International Cooperation, for his part revealed four results achieved, to date, within the framework of this twinning, which he considers particularly illustrative.
First of all, he first mentions the analysis of the Moroccan accounting regulatory framework with the formulation of operational development proposals to properly prepare the process of certification of the accounts, which will certainly contribute to the consolidation of the accounting reform of the State led by our country.
Then, Abdelkrim Guiri cited the development of a modulated expenditure control reform project which will be finalized and put into the adoption circuit during this year. This text, which emphasizes the control of high-stakes spending, empowers managers more, said the manager.
The third result of this twinning mentioned by the Director of Research, Regulation and International Cooperation, is none other than support for the process of dematerialization of the expenditure chain, through the development of a book of charges for the development of a platform for storing and exchanging information relating to the management accounts of State services, while the 4th result concerns the finalization of an online training strategy project with the related tools and the development of a pilot product in the form of an e-learning platform.
