Financial Management Reform

In recent years there has been a growing agreement about the need to improve the performance of the public sector in the British Virgin Islands. Much of the discussion has focused on the desire to improve the effectiveness, service delivery (including customer service) and efficiency of public sector agencies. 

The major management system (and therefore the major driver of behaviour) in any government is the financial management system, and in particular the budget process. The budget is the vehicle through which most decisions at the political level are made because most Government decisions have financial resource implications. It is also the system that drives many of the actions of civil service managers because, once again, nearly all activities and actions of ministries and departments have financial consequences. The nature and focus of the financial management system is therefore a major determinant of public sector performance. This means that financial management reform needs to be an integral part of any programme of public sector reform. 

In recognition of this, the Ministry of Finance has initiated a project to improve the way in which the government’s financial management arrangements. The objective of this project is to fundamentally change the way in which the government’s financial management system operates so that it provides:

• Executive Council with better mechanisms to control and execute government policy; and
• Managers with significantly greater freedom to manage within a more meaningful set of financial accountability arrangements.

Read more information on the Financial Management Reform.