Terms of Reference signed between the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) and Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan

On October 17, the Uzbekistan Embassy in DC Washington held the ceremony of signing the Terms of Reference on Budget and financial accountability and Government debt & infrastructure finance program (GDIF) programs between the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) and Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Finance Odilbek Isakov and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technical Assistance Policy U.S. Department of the Treasury W.L. McDonald.

Budget and financial accountability program highlighted opportunities for collaboration on:

• Effective systems and processes for submitting and defending the annual budget to Parliament;

• Improving the treasury execution process of the state budget.

Developing a strategic approach to fiscal policy, with a shift toward performance and

results including the implementation of new fiscal forecasting tools,

including:  

• Strengthening the budget process, including effective systems and processes for submitting and defending the annual budget to Parliament,

• Improving the transparency of the budget documentation,

• Developing expenditure scrutiny functions for new spending,

• Shifting budget policy towards performance and results.

Improving the treasury execution process of the State Budget through:

• Improving liquidity and cash management, including a review of current business processes,

• Ensuring comprehensive coverage of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) including foreign currency accounts.

Government debt & infrastructure finance program (GDIF) highlighted opportunities for collaboration on:

• Development of the domestic government debt market,

• Government debt management policies and practices, and

• Project Finance.

Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) intends to provide assistance to the Ministry of Finance to achieve the following objectives:  

• Enhanced government debt planning based upon a Medium-Term Debt Strategy;

• Efficient, transparent government debt auctions/placements, including regular publication of debt issuance calendars;

• Strong bond portfolio management capacity, including risk analysis and management;

• Full capacity for identification, valuation, recording and reporting of contingent liabilities;

• Increased government securities market liquidity, initially through greater use of

repurchase transactions and issuance of benchmark securities;

• Expanded investor base for government securities, including domestic individuals and foreign institutions;

• Adoption of policy and procedures for granting and monitoring of government support for Public-Private Partnerships;

• Solid staff capacity and clear procedures for analysis and prioritization of public

investment projects