Achievements at the international level 

In February 2001, the Financial Management Harmonization Working Group (the Working Group) was created by the Presidents of several multilateral development banks (MDBs). The original participating MDBs are African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank. The Islamic Development Bank became a Participating MDB in 2002.

The Working Group meets biannually to address the harmonization of their policies and practices in financial management and analysis, as well as collaborate on Financial Management diagnostic work and in financial reporting and auditing.

 

The OECD-DAC Donor Practices Task Force was created in February 2001 with a two year mandate. Later, in May 2003, the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness and Donor Practices (the Working Party) was established by DAC to further facilitate, support, and monitor progress on harmonization of Financial management as one of three priority areas. The Working Party meets every six months and has a broader multilateral participation and mandate than its predecessor. Financial management is one of three priority areas of the Working Party that set up Technical Groups on public financial management and results.

Financial management is one of the priority areas identified by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic for harmonization of donor practices and procedures. The World Bank has participated, along with the Asian Development Bank and other international financial institutions, in the harmonization consensus building to develop common understanding and approach to harmonization of financial management procedures, with specific focus on:

• Financial management capacity assessments for new investment projects, particularly those being implemented by the same agencies or sectors;Financial reporting, including formats, with a view to reducing variation from the government’s own financial reporting format and requirements;Auditing, including eligibility requirements for special purpose auditors, with possible joint assessment of audit firms;Capacity building and training strategy;Development of country financial management strategy, including joint support to the government in the implementation of agreed priority actions arising from Country Financial Accountability Assessment.

These efforts are still largely in the thought process, although some progress has been made towards common list of eligible audit firms that would see the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank collaborating in future update of the list of eligible firms. The World Bank continues to support the government’s harmonization initiative through participation as a core member of the Harmonization Working Group under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance.