CAIRO — The Egyptian Finance Ministry has begun implementing the Government Financial Management Information System (GFMIS), which will facilitate the electronic monitoring of state agencies’ financial performance and public accounts. While the attempt to control public expenditures and keep a tight rein on the financial transactions of government agencies, ministries and governorates might be laudable, the success of the system — part of the economic reforms the government has been implementing since November 2016 — will depend on how well it is implemented and agencies' and employees' compliance.

The parliament on July 25 passed the Government Accountability Law, which includes provisions greenlighting the e-system's implementation to manage budget accounts. To that end, it requires government agencies to create e-payment orders with e-signatures, eliminating paper checks except when absolutely necessary. The agencies are also required to collect revenues through an electronic system.

The government paved the way for a new financial management system in August 2017, when it announced a two-part initiative to manage the budget. The first phase involved an electronic system for outlays and collection, and the second phase was the GFMIS, through which the Ministry of Finance will monitor and manage government agencies’ accounts and budgets.

The initial step in the first phase was the introduction in early August 2017 of payroll cards for paying employee salaries. The government issued some 4.9 million such cards, allowing employees to obtain their salaries from ATMs. The implementation of this process served to train Ministry of Finance representatives across government agencies for the second phase, that is, the broader use of GFMIS for overseeing accounts and budgets.