About this learning event

Strengthened cash and debt management practices will help countries manage the increased levels of public debt that were used to finance the measures to counter the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants at the workshop will have the opportunity to review how their countries can improve the coordination of their cash and debt management units, in particular how to strengthen cash flow forecasting to better assess new debt requirements. We will also discuss how developing a Treasury Single Account (TSA) supports the cash and debt management function, and the key attributes that a TSA system should have.

This event is organized in collaboration with the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and it will complement the other CEF event on TSA arrangements planned for April 12-14, 2022 (Government Cash Management: Coordination of Treasury and Central Bank).

The event will be delivered as a 4-day online course that will gather officials from 6 countries.  

What will you learn

The faculty will present the principles and main challenges in the area of fiscal policy and budget execution vis-à-vis the cash and debt management. The participants will be offered platform to present their legal frameworks practices, and complexities of daily management of cash and debt.  Discussion will also encompass models of regulatory framework, as well as banking arrangements, and processing cash buffers by the cash management practitioners. Introductory survey across participants’ institutions and practical exercise will provide active role of the audience in comparative overview of the approaches to specific tasks of the cash and debt management.

Who should attend

This event is intended for public finance officials in charge of operations inherent to cash and debt management in ministries of finance budget departments, treasury and national bank.

Faculty

• Yasemin Hürcan, IMF

Ms. Hürcan is a Senior Economist at the Public Financial Management (PFM) Division, Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. She has led and participated in several PFM, Fiscal Transparency Evaluations, PIMA and governance missions in Anglophone Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. Prior to joining to the IMF in 2012, she worked for the Turkish Treasury for 16 years in different capacities in debt and cash management and fiscal analysis departments during Turkey’s public financial management and debt management transformation in the 2000s. She was heavily involved in PFM reforms during this period. She has authored or co-authored research papers, IMF board papers and chapters for books. She holds a master’s degree in Public Policy with a specialization in public financial management from the University of Maryland and a BA in Public Finance from Ankara University.

• Guilherme Pedras, IMF

Mr. Pedras joined the IMF in 2009, where he has since worked in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department as a Senior Financial Sector Specialist. In this capacity he has led several technical assistance missions on debt management. Before joining the IMF Mr. Pedras worked for 12 years in the Ministry of Finance of Brazil, where he became the Head of the Debt Management Operations Department. In this position, he was responsible for carrying out all debt management transactions in the domestic and international markets. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Escola de Pos-Graduação em Economia (EPGE/FGV).

• Emre Balibek, IMF

Mr. Balibek is a Senior Economist at the Public Financial Management (PFM) Division, Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. Prior to joining to the IMF,  he was a Senior Debt Specialist at the World Bank between 2015-2018. He served for the Turkish Treasury for seventeen years, most recently as the Deputy Director General for Public Finance. He was actively involved in the establishment of a risk management function at the Treasury, and led a team that focused on analysis and mitigation of risks concerning the central government’s (on- and off-budget) financial assets and liabilities. He holds a PhD degree in Operational Research from the Middle East Technical University, a MSc degree in Management Science from Warwick Business School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici (Bosphorus) University. 

• Arturo Navarro, IMF

Mr. Navarro is a Senior Economist at the Public Financial Management (PFM) Division, Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. His work focuses mostly on public investment management and public-private partnerships, areas in which he has capacity development in Anglophone Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. Prior to joining the Fund in 2018, he was involved in the preparation of capital projects in both the private and public sectors in Colombia. He was Director of Public Debt for Bogotá, Colombia, responsible for managing the city’s debt portfolio and integrating the debt and treasury management functions. He holds a MBA with specialization in corporate finance and strategy from New York University and a BA in Economics from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia.

• Rubeela Qayyum

Since 2019, Ms. Qayyum has had a portfolio career as a Public Financial Management Advisor. This included working at HM Treasury in 2020 where she jointly led the team responsible for government financing and debt management including the Government’s strategy for the unprecedented levels of borrowing required during the Covid-19 crisis. Prior to that, Ms. Qayyum held a number of finance and accounting roles in the UK Civil Service before leading the cashflow management team in HM Treasury. Ms. Qayyum is a Chartered Accountant.

• Merle Wilkinson

Since 2015, Mrs. Wilkinson has been involved in a portfolio of roles, including as a Short-Term Expert to the IMF and a Consultant to the World Bank, as well as an Adviser to the Ministry of Finance of Estonia. She is also the Alternate Director for Estonia in the Nordic Investment Bank. From 2010 to 2015, Mrs. Wilkinson was Head of the State Treasury in the Ministry of Finance of Estonia and prior to that worked as  an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office. Mrs. Wilkinson’s background is in public sector cash and debt management, with a focus on practical problem solving and development. She has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Tallinn Technical University.

• Davit Gamkrelidze

Mr. Gamkrelidze is head of the Department at State Treasury (MoF) Georgia, responsible for forecasting flows on Treasury Single Account and ensuring efficient and safe investment of public funds in financial instruments. Possessing more than 10 years of working experience in diverse financial positions, both in public and corporate filed, he has been in charge of Budgeting and Financial Planning; Accounting and Reporting (IFRS, IPSAS); Analysis and Forecasting. Davit has earned a bachelor’s degree in Business and Finance at Tbilisi State University. He also holds MBA degree from Tbilisi State University and another master’s degree in Finance from Bank of Georgia University/Caucasus Business School. Currently Mr. Gamkrelidze is pursuing PhD degree in Business Administration, doing his doctoral work on “International Financial Markets and Capital Market Development in Georgia”.

Partners

This learning initiative was supported by: