1. Public Finance Management (PFM) System and Public Finance Control (PFC) in Belorussia
PEMPAL, Moscow, October 2016
Natalia Pilets
Deputy Head,
Control and Auditing Department, Belarus

2. Public Finance Management and Control Authorities
Government Control Committee and its Territorial Bodies (Highest government control authority)
Ministry of Finance and its territorial bodies
Budget holders (republican level authorities – Ministries and Committees )
Local executive and holding bodies (local financial authorities)
Internal (agency-level) control bodies (control over subordinate organizations)

3. Formalization of Functions and Authorities of the Public Finance Management and Control Bodies
Functions and authorities of the public finance management and control bodies are formalized in the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, Budget Code, Presidential Decree #510 of October 16, 2009 On Improvement of Control (Oversight) Activities in the Republic of Belarus and other legislation

4. Functions of the Ministry of Finance
Pursuing fiscal and tax policies, regulation and management in the financial sector, coordination in the sector
Drafting of a budget law and a law on the approval of the budget execution report for the reporting year and submission of them to the Government
Control of budget legislation compliance, assurances of the effective and appropriate budgetary expenditures
Government regulation of accounting and financial reporting
Government regulation and control of operations with precious metals and stones, of capital market, of the insurance and auditing activities, etc.

5. The PFM authorities of the Ministry of Finance include control over :
Compliance with the budget legislation in development, review, approval and execution of the republican and local budgets;
Implementation of the uniform methodology in accounting and financial reporting of budget execution;
Consistency between payments and budget commitments and budget appropriations;
Timely and complete receipt of revenues and efficient and appropriate expenditure of budget funds;
Appropriate disbursement and timely repayment of budget funds, loans (credits), provided on a repayable basis.

6. offices of preliminary financial control at the level of the Ministry of Finance
Main Budget Policy Department of the MoF– provides methodological guidance on budget legislation, develops main areas of fiscal and tax policies, drafts a republican budget, coordinates activities on development and execution of budgets.
MoF Sector Departments– coordinate activities of budget holders in areas of their competence (e.g., construction, agroindustrial complex, social sector, etc.)

7. Main Treasury Office – carries our preliminary control of the republican budget execution, provides methodological guidance on issues related to the republican budget execution, reporting, coordinates activities of the territorial treasury offices, and compiles consolidated reports on budget execution.
Territorial Treasury Offices– carry out preliminary control over execution of the republican and local budgets, check for consistency of payments with the budget commitments and budget appropriations.
Local financial authorities– draft the local budgets, coordinate activities of the local budget holders, compile consolidated reports on execution of the local budgets

8. Holders of Budget Funds (internal control)
Based on the action plan they estimate budget appropriations for a draft budget, and develop a draft consolidated budget cost estimate;
Support management of budget appropriations, approve budget estimates for budget users;
Carry out preliminary and ongoing control of the appropriate and efficient disbursement of the proceeds by the budget users;
Prepare and submit consolidated financial reports and a consolidated budget cost estimate to the Ministry of Finance or a local financial authority, as appropriate.

9. Budget Users– legal provisions on the use of budget funds are strictly regulated
They shall use budget funds in compliance with the legislation within the limits of budget appropriations for expenditure items
Procurement of goods (works, services) follow the provisions of the Law of Republic of Belarus On Government Procurement
They shall ensure effective and appropriate use of budget funds, and assume money commitments solely within the approved budget appropriations
They shall submit accounting documents on the use of budget funds to the budget holders

10. Types of public financial follow-up control in the Republic of Belarus
external:
√ Government Control Committee (highest body of control)
√ Control and auditing bodies of the Ministry of Finance, local financial authorities
internal:
√ internal (agency level) control in government authorities and entities

11. Последующий финансовый контроль:
Follow-up Control at the Level of the Ministry of Finance :
control and audit bodies of the Ministry of Finance, local financial authorities–
check the compliance with the budget legislation, including efficient and appropriate spending of budget funds

12. Agency-level control (internal control)
is implemented by the public bodies and institutions (ministries, concerns, local executive and administrative authorities, public associations), as a rule, through special subdivisions (internal control offices), established within the agencies

13. Ведомственный контроль
Key Objectives of Internal Control
Ведомственный контроль
Check the activities of subordinate entities for compliance with the legislation
Timely warn, uncover and prevent violations of law
Undertake measures to ensure integrity, appropriate and efficient use of assets of subordinate entities
Identify potential space for improving the efficiency of activities of subordinate entities

14. Government Control Committee – external control
being the highest body of government control of the Republic of Belarus, subordinate to the President, it carries out government control of the republican budget execution, use of government property, implementation of the legislation approved by the President, Parliament, Government and other government authorities regulating the government property relations, economic, financial and tax relations
The Committee is led by a Chairperson appointed to this position by the President

15. Authority of the Government Control Committee:
Checks the execution of the revenue and expenditure parts of the republican and local budgets
Controls the timeliness and completeness of revenue receipts, appropriate and efficient spending of budget funds
Annual review of the Government report on the execution of the republican budget and drafting of the relevant opinion to be submitted to the President and Parliament for consideration, and to be sent to the Government.
Ensures public access to the concluding opinion/report on the republican budget execution

16. Specific Features of the Follow-up Financial Control in the Republic of Belarus
The primary focus of the control bodies is to check the compliance with the legal provisions and bring the offenders to responsibility
They check the compliance with the legislation, take relevant measures to prevent and suppress violations of law, to bring to responsibility those persons whose actions (or negligence) resulted in the breach of law, to recover the value of uncovered violations to the budget.

17. Making conclusions: elements of the French-speaking model
Detailed preliminary, ongoing and follow-up budget control
All budget process procedures are strictly regulated
The main focus in on the budget holders and budget users
Financial control bodies check for compliance with the legal provisions, they may recover the value of uncovered violations to the budget, bring the guilty persons to administrative responsibility

18. Ведомственный контроль
Public Finance Management Reform Strategy for
Ведомственный контроль
Public Finance Management Reform Upgrade Project in the Republic of Belarus
Implementation of the mid-term budget planning
Budget transparency and completeness: improvement of budget classification in accordance with the international principles and standards, implementation of the single chart of accounts integrated with the budget classification

19. Improvement of treasury control efficiency through consolidation of public funds, including extra-budgetary funds, on the single treasury account (STA), improvement of projections and management of free balance of the STA
Improvement of public debt management arrangements
Improvement of the accounting and reporting systems and convergence with the international standards for financial reporting in the public sector
Creation of a new integrated information system for public finance management

20. and, finally:
Implementation of performance-based budgeting, enhancement of independence of budget holders and users
New approach to the organization of internal financial control in the public sector, implementation of performance audits aimed at the control of cost-effectiveness and efficiency of public governance
!!!!! THIS IS AN IMPETUS FOR INTERNAL AUDIT AND INTERNAL CONTROL REFORMS

21. Thank you for your attention!