Closing of govt accounts for 2021 successful: Official

FINANCE secretary Dr Ken Ngangan says the closing of 2021 government accounts was successfully undertaken with commitments and payments processed within the usual end-of-year rush.
He said last year had been a challenging year for the Finance Department which had worked to ensure funds were available to meet the Government’s response to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
It was also to reconnect users to the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and the Alesco payroll system following the ransomware attack which severed the connection in October.
“To ensure a successful 2021 closing for all departments, the Department of Finance increased the number of IFMS-user access points and the larger agencies such as Works, Health, Police and Education were allocated dedicated access points during the final days of processing,” he said.
Ngangan said the Treasury Department was also able to access IFMS directly from Treasury Haus.
Most departments were well advanced in finalising their accounts before Dec 31. On Monday, the IFMS system rolled over for 2022 accounts.
“Treasury and Finance are working together to process annual procurement plans and budget work plans in preparation of releasing warrants and to commence processing for 2022,” he said.
He said it was a compliance obligation for all government agencies to submit annual procurement plans for procurement over K1 million and submit budget cash flow work plans to enable warrants to be released.
“Agencies should be well advanced in completing these obligations following the passing of the National Budget 2022.”