Skopje, 14 October 2022 (MIA) – Implementation of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) is currently a priority project for the Ministry of Finance. IFMIS will enable establishment of the multi-year budget framework, public investments management, automated supervision of liabilities, basic funds management and debt management, heard a meeting between Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi and World Bank Group Executive Director Koen Davidse, Vice President Anna Bjerde, Country Director for the Western Balkans Xiaoqing Yu and the Country Manager for North Macedonia, Massimiliano Paolucci in Washington. Discussions focused on the establishment of IFMIS and priorities of the country’s new four-year World Bank partnership framework. IFMIS is a part of the reforms in public finance management implemented by the Ministry of Finance. The aim of the system is to improve the efficiency and transparency in the management of public funds, which is set to be achieved through the connection of the existing fragmented and unconnected systems to a single centralized digital platform. “IFMIS is a part of the Government’s commitment to GovTech, i.e., the implementation of advanced technologies in its operations,” stated Besimi at the meetings bringing up the issue of financing the IFMIS implementation, with the aim of faster application of the Budget Law. At the same time, the good implementation of the projects from the four-year framework, especially in the field of energy efficiency, was affirmed at the meeting. The energy efficiency project worth EUR 25 million is being implemented with World Bank support. Currently, the procedure for 42 projects from 12 municipalities, which have applied and met the seismic stability conditions, has been completed, while the procedure for the energy efficiency of 16 health facilities is underway. Minister Besimi stated that investments within the four-year partnership framework aim to improve infrastructure, human capital and public finance management. The current four-year partnership framework is worth USD 420 million, but as a result of the Covid crisis, USD 508 million were approved instead. The current framework expires in June 2023, and the drafting of a new one is set to start at the beginning of 2023, immediately after the country’s report is finished, reads the press release. ad/ik/