Implementing Public Financial Management and Internal Control (PFM/IC)

Introducing PFM/IC has a wide range of impacts. It requires an appreciation of the separate roles of the politician for policy development, implementation strategy and operational management oversight and that of the appointed official for policy implementation. A feature of PFM/IC is the development of delegation and accountability, although delegation decisions can be complex and depend upon circumstances and personalities. This chapter provides a broad overview of the issues that need to be addressed and which are developed in more detail in the succeeding chapters. Those issues include transparency and the involvement of parliament, changes to the budgetary and accounting arrangements and the development of performance information systems.