Skopje, 24 October 2024 (MIA) -- Help from U.S. Treasury experts to the Ministry of Finance, the Customs Administration, and to the Public Revenue Office is welcome and beneficial to the state institutions in their efforts to improve public financial management, Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska Kochoska said at a meeting with U.S. Department of the Treasury representatives in Washington, DC, according to the Ministry of Finance in a press release.

The finance minister met with Luyen Tran, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance, and Rebecca Gorin, international economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Europe Office.

The tehnical assistance to the country is based on an agreement signed by the Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance. 

The state's existing budget planning system was developed with the help of U.S. Treasury experts between 2004 and 2008, and now the Ministry of Finance is working on improving the related processes. This includes drafting key documents related to budget planning under the new Law on Budgets; strengthening supervision of non- bank financial institutions through capacity building; and boosting consumer protection and financial literacy, the release said.

The U.S. Treasury experts are also helping with issues related to public debt management. "All of this is especially important for us in improving the processes of collecting national revenue and managing the revenue," Minister Dimitrieska Kochoska is quoted as saying in the release.

The agreement also covers assistance in capacity building at the Customs Administration and the Publc Revenue Office, the digitization of their work processes, and their cybersecurity and fight against crime.

At the meeting, the finance minister expressed her gratitude for the help from the United States so far and welcomed the continued assistance in further improving the country's public financial management system.

Dimitrieska Kochoska held the meeting during her working visit to the USA, where she is taking part in the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. She is also set to meet with top representatives of the IMF and WB, the release said. mr/