Interim Treasury Management Fund System By April

An interim Central Treasury Management Fund System (CTMS) will be in place by April 2011.
This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw during the sitting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 19) at Gordon House.
The CTMS aims to ensure better management of public resources, by bringing the responsibility for treasury management under one agency, thereby eliminating the overlap, duplication and inefficiencies of the current system.
“It should be noted that we are at the early stages of the development of the interim CTMS and we are now finalising the process to improve the treasury management function in Government and thereafter, to develop the requirements for the new treasury management system,” Mr. Shaw said.
He told the House that in other countries where a CTMS is in place, it has been observed that it takes a number of years (in some cases 8 to 10 years) to design and implement the system. “The lessons learnt from our interim system will be invaluable for the design of the final CTMS,” he noted.
Meanwhile, as part of the process, a Treasury Single Account (TSA) will be established at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), which will bring government revenue into a single account, thereby improving cash management.
Minister Shaw explained that the Accountant General will pass funds through this account, as required, to satisfy the spending plans of the Ministries.
“The BOJ, working in conjunction with the Accountant General’s Department will establish the mechanism to facilitate the electronic fund transfer,” Mr. Shaw said.