News

Key to stability of the country’s fiscal policy

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0500

Within the framework of the plan of works on assistance rendering on the further perfection of budget system of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and also capacity building of experts of financial sphere of the country in October has been organized the study tour for specialists of territorial financial bodies of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Slovenia which has extensive positive experience in budget planning sphere.

The study tour has been organized by the UNDP «Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan» Project jointly with Public Expenditure Management Peer-Assisted Learning network (PEM PAL) which takes active part in improvement of professional skill of public officers in the finance sphere.

The activities of PEM PAL are aimed at supporting the implementation of reforms in public finance and expenditures in 21 countries of Europe and Central Asia. The organization brings together highly qualified professionals in the area of budgeting, treasury and internal audit.

During the visit several meetings were held with management and representatives of the Ministry of Finance of Slovenia, particularly through training sessions and presentations, which presented detailed information regarding the fiscal system of this country, the budgetary reforms and innovations. The visit program also covered medium-term budgeting and public procurements.

Due to the fact that in Uzbekistan, after the adoption of the Presidential Decree “On optimization of the public procurement system and expanding attraction of small business entities to the process” dated February 7, 2011, this sector has undergone significant changes, which caused significant interest of Uzbek specialists. The study tour allowed experts not only to learn from the experience of Slovenia, but also establish direct contacts with experts in the field of public finance reforms, including the areas of fiscal planning.

“During the study tour we have studied the budgetary system of the Republic of Slovenia, its features and differences with the budgeting in Uzbekistan,” said Kilishbek Igilikov, head of financial unit of Tamdi district of Navoi region of Uzbekistan. “In Slovenia, the state budget is drawn up for 2 years, and in consolidated form includes state and municipal budgets, health insurance funds, pension and unemployment insurance. The Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Slovenia was adopted in 1990, which establishes the basic principles of budgeting. The annual budget execution is governed by the Law “On the budget”. It is worth noting that along with the aforementioned budgetary reforms, the country is also engaged in tax system reforms aimed at lowering the tax rates.

It should be noted that in order to study the experience in public finance, as well as increase the capacity of specialists in the fiscal sphere of Uzbekistan the UNDP Project “Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan” jointly with the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan also organized study tours for the staff of territorial financial authorities to Turkey, Czech Republic, and France.

The results of these study visits indicate that such events significantly broaden the mind, provide learning from best international practices and to a large extent contribute to the capacity and professionalism of the financial sector of our country, which, of course, should become a key to further stability of fiscal policy.

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