Financial Secretary Office News

Financial Secretary Office News

Public Financial Management Roadmap Review No 2

The Cook Islands Government Public Financial Management Roadmap was endorsed by Cabinet in October 2011. The main objective of this roadmap is to assist the Government of the Cook Islands in facilitating and improving the current public financial management systems and also to ensure effective and efficient service delivery to the people of the Cook Islands. To date, a total of two reviews have been conducted, the first in February and the second in July 2012. The reviews have been scheduled to take place every quarter.
The next re-assessment on the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability will take place in June 2015 and the aim is to ensure that all actions proposed in the Cook Islands PFM roadmap have been successfully delivered. A large portion of the performance indicators is heavily reliant on the involvement of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management.

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Cook Islands Banking Review by Sam Knowles

The Government recently commissioned Sam Knowles to undertake a review of the Cook Islands Banking system.

The objective in undertaking the review was to define a long term strategy for the provision of banking services for the Cook Islands economy that will on a sustained basis:

•    lower the cost of banking for businesses operating in the Cook islands;
•    improve the accessibility to banking by Cook Islands businesses and residents;
•    provide the banking services necessary to support the major growth sectors of the economy; and
•    minimise the need for Government financial support to achieve the above.

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Media Briefing: 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors ADB

Media Briefing:
Day 2 Manila 2012 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors ADB

Minister Mark Brown today joined the remaining Governors of the ADB in the first plenary session of the ADB. The Governors were given a presentation on past currency issues and an overview of where currency markets are headed particularly in light of the recent difficulties in the US and Europe.
Later, the Cook Islands delegation met with representatives of the ADB Treasury to discuss the possibility of consolidating the outstanding loans with the ADB.

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