Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy approved to take all executive procedures in coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to close 179 units of account of government agencies at the Ministry of Finance and its interests as of 1 December 2016. These accounts are to be integrated into the CBE’s central unit accounts.
The minister said that integrating these government accounts into the CBE’s central unit accounts aims to strengthen the electronic financial payments system in order to manage dues of public and private entities starting from 1 December 2016 instead of issuing cheques. This is to avoid the risk of losing cheques, errors in the data, and the lack of a specified timeframe to collect cheques. The electronic financial payments system adds the value paid immediately to the accounts of receivable entities, compared to a period of up to two weeks in the case of payment in cash or by cheques.
El-Garhy explained that choosing the 179 units as an initial stage was based on specific criteria, such as the volume of financial transactions conducted through the units of account. He pointed out that the Ministry of Finance organised a number of workshops for those in charge of the management of these units to train them on the electronic system and discuss the necessary mechanisms to overcome any problems they may encounter during the implementation of the new system. The ministry also prepared a periodic manual that shows how to use the accounts and how to issue electronic payment orders.
El-Garhy stressed that the new electronic system aims to tighten control over financial accounts of the state and reduce dealing with cheques and paperwork. It also provides accurate financial statements for finance officials, which help in the implementation of the Ministry of Finance’s plans to develop the cash flow system of the state in terms of revenue and general expenses.
Deputy Minister of Finance for treasury and head of the Economic Justice Unit Mohamed Maait said that several meetings had been recently held with the concerned authorities attended by Assistant Minister of Finance for information technology and the heads of finance sectors and financial divisions at the Ministry of Finance. The meetings were also attended by e-finance, the company responsible for implementing the electronic system of the single treasury account, to discuss how to electronically deal with these financial accounts, to remove all the obstacles that they encounter when dealing with the CBE, and to ensure the full cancellation of dealing with cheques.
Maait added that these measures are taken to complete the electronic management system project implemented by the Government Finance Management Information System (GFMIS), which also includes electronic payment and collection systems of revenue and expenditures. The Ministry of Finance aims to complete the project by the end of 2017.
