Harness the power of trust for effective public finance management - Michael Armstrong - (FCA and ICAEW Regional Director for Middle East, Africa and South Asia)
Effective public financial management is essential for economic success, and at its core is the need to build and maintain trust. Trust grows out of a culture of rigorous independent scrutiny which enables citizens to see that the decisions their leaders take are in the public interest. According to ICAEW’s recent report on building trust in public finances, a culture of trust is pegged to a number of factors and elements. Strong public financial management requires transparency in how resources are raised, managed and used, together with accountability, to instil confidence and promote continuous improvement. For example, in Uganda, the budget information is usually uploaded on a website. This promotes transparency and accountability by showing detailed information on how resources are allocated and used, plus performance indicators from national down to parish level. Citizens and other stakeholders can provide feedback on service delivery in their local areas and report