99% of inter-govt payments now made electronically, says BoU
Bank of Uganda is responsible for maintaining reliable, efficient and safe payment and settlement systems. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- Through technology the Central Bank has improved systems and infrastructure to deliver excellent experiences as well as enhance stakeholder confidence
Bank of Uganda has said it now makes 99 percent of inter-government payments to ministries, departments and agencies through electronic means.
This, the Central Bank said, has been achieved through continuous enhancement in the automation of the government payment system, which was introduced in 2003.
Bank of Uganda is responsible for maintaining reliable, efficient and safe payment and settlement systems.
Speaking at a meeting of permanent secretaries and accounting officers in Kampala about automation in government institutions, Mr Valentine Ojangole, the Bank of Uganda director banking, said through technology the Central Bank had improved systems and infrastructure to deliver excellent experiences as well as enhance stakeholder confidence through identifying pain points and devising viable solutions.
Government automation has been key in fighting corruption even as theft of taxpayer resources continues to dog a number of government operations.
In a speech read for him, Accountant General Lawrence Semakula, said government continues to register good progress in public financial management, which has been supported by automation, thus creating a more accountable public service delivery system.
He also noted the automation, which was first adapted in 2003, has gone through various changes with the Ministry of Finance introducing a number of processes, including the enhanced fixed assets module, which has been upgraded to prepare for the transition from modified accrual accounting to accrual accounting. The accrual basis of accounting records revenues when earned and expenses when incurred.
This, Mr Semakula said, will enable government votes to start depreciating assets automatically at predetermined rates as provided for in the recently issued asset management guidelines.
