Africa-Press – Eswatini. Senior officials from Eastern and Southern Africa have received hands-on training to manage their public debt using the Commonwealth’s new debt management system.
The Commonwealth Secretariat facilitated the training in Mozambique from 12 to 16 December in partnership with the Macro economic and Financial Management Institute for Eastern and SouthernAfrica to equip 25 officials from eight countries in recording, analysing and reporting debt data using the new debt management system, Commonwealth Meridian.
“Using Commonwealth Meridian has been a great experience,” Lihle Dlamini, Senior Finance Officer at the local ministry of finance
told the Commonwealth publication. “The aggregate function is such a powerful new tool in Meridian that gives us the ability to generate customreports suited for
our periodic reporting.” Officials from ministries of finance and central banks benefited from the five-day programme for transitioning to Commonwealth Meridian and learnt how to use the webbased software tomonitor compliancewith debt strategies, mitigate operational risks and uphold data integrity. Debt officials from the country, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Tanzania -which recently migrated to Commonwealth Meridian – also spoke about the benefits of using the new software and ways to mitigate
the post-transition challenges. Opening the training, Domingos Lambo, Permanent Secretary of Mozambique’s Ministry Of Economy and Finance, said the workshop comes at a time when the world is grapplingwithmultiple challenges, adding:
“These developments have heightened public debts in many developing countries.” He continued: “The knowledge and skills you gain from this training will help you maintain comprehensive, accurate and timely public debt databases in your countries, as this is a prerequisite for efficient debt management operations.” Speaking after the training , MacBanda,Adviser at the Secretariat’s Debt Management Unit, said: “The risks of unsustainable debt becomes a real challenge as income streams disappear due to the ongoing economic slowdown and frequent climate-
related disasters.
This hampers the government’s ability to finance basic services such as health and much-needed programmes to achieve development objectives.”
Mac Banda added: “This training is the latest ina series of initiatives by the Secretariat to assist member countries with prudent public debt management. It will go a long way in helping countriesmanage their debt using Commonwealth Meridian, which in turn will help themalleviate debt burdens and lead to better standards of living.”
During the training, officials also commended the Secretariat for assisting its member countries inmanaging their debt portfolios, which, they said, contributed to financial
stability.
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