Seminar on Public Internal Financial Control

The Ministry of Finance organized the seminar on public internal financial control system (PIFC), participated by the representatives of the European Commission and the Budget DG, as well as the SIGMA representatives.

On behalf of the Ministry of Finance, Ivana Maletić, State Secretary, and Danijela Stepić, Director of the Directorate for Harmonization of Internal Audit and Financial Control, welcomed the gathering. The seminar was intended for the highest management level of the central government in order to discuss the most important aspects of the new Strategy for the development of the public internal financial control system in the Republic of Croatia for the period 2009-2011, which had been adopted by the Government of the Republic of Croatia in September 2009. Public sector leaders have a key role in the implementation of this Strategy.

Commenting on the event, Mr Robert Gielisse, Head of the PIFC Department in the European Commission in Brussels, stated: "Adoption of the new PIFC strategy emphasises that PIFC is not seen in Croatia just as another control requirement, but as a fundamental reorientation of the way the public sector deals with taxpayers' money and which has an impact at large beyond EU accession. We also welcome the support from senior management to convey the message to all working in the public sector: 'yes, we can do better'."

Croatia is well advanced in implementing PIFC

PIFC is an integrated and operational model developed by the European Commission for state-of-the art management of public funds. PIFC's introduction in Croatia has not been a 'ticking the box' operation - far from it. It is a complete changeover of the way the public sector deals with its income and expenditure in terms of value for money: efficiency, effectiveness and economy are now key requirements, not only legality and regularity. Moreover, a new internal audit profession in the public sector is in place to help ensure that the new working methods are put into practice.

PIFC is more than control: It is about better spending of public money and accountability

Government departments raise and spend tax-payers money. Taxpayers increasingly show interest in the way this is done and they seek reassurance that their money is spent economically, efficiently and effectively and that the risks of fraud and corruption are minimised. To this end, public sector managers will have to be open about what they do and how they do it and be ready for public scrutiny.

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