The TBSI (Treasury-Budget-Information System) project is part of the reforms undertaken by the Central African State to consolidate public finances. It aims to assist key public finance actors with the State’s cycle of sound financial management.
This project financed by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France started in September 2017. Three resident experts are working with officials from the Ministry of Finance and Budget for the project implementation.
The TBSI project follows on from a first project implemented by Expertise France between 2014 and 2016. This project set up the Central Treasury Accounting Agency (ACCT), which carries out accounting on the resources of the Central African State and strengthens public expenditure control.
This project is innovative in that it supports the information systems of the Ministry of Finance and Budget, with the aim of facilitating the transfer of budgetary and accounting information.
Expertise France is supporting the development of the new Information Technology Master Plan, a key stage in structuring the computer system.
The TBSI project is one of the priorities of the Central African State and is in line with the objectives set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which aim to improve the resilience of the public finance management system in CAR.
For over a year, the resident experts have been providing day-to-day support for the formulation and execution of the budget, as well as for the consolidation of public accounting. They have supported:
• The production of the 2018-2020 Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) and the drafting of the guide to preparing the MTBF;
• The preparation of the 2019 Finance Law;
• The work on drafting the macro-budgetary processes for the preparation of the transition to the SIM_ba budgetary and accounting application;
• The production of a monitoring tool for the treasury plan in order to improve the State’s treasury management and facilitate the payment of civil servants and suppliers;
• The proposal of an internal accounting control methodology to better organise the actions of the various actors in accounting procedures. The objective is to make accounting more reliable and reduce the time required for the production of accounts for the Court of Auditors.
• The production of procedures guides and manuals for all the areas of activity of the Directorates General of the Budget (DGB) and Treasury and Public Accounting (DGTCP).
The support provided by TBSI also includes various activities carried out by the project team:
• The organisation of training: capacity-building workshops on the budgetary reform; training of trainers with DGTCP officers; training on the current procedure manuals and on public accounting; IT training; management training, etc.
• Support to the Court of Auditors;
• The organisation of a seminar on the public finance reform in the Central African Republic, in the context of the implementation of the CEMAC 2011 directives;
• The organisation of thematic conferences, open to all, one on the 2019 Finance Law and the other on financial control;
• The production of educational videos on the Finance Law and the public expenditure circuit for the general public.
More about Expertise France in CAR
