As part of his efforts aimed at accelerating work within the Ministry of Finance and alleviating administrative complications on citizens and taxpayers, Finance Minister Yassin Jaber held an expanded meeting devoted to following up on collection files, treasury, digitization, and developing electronic services, stressing the need to move from the stage of diagnosing problems to addressing them within clear time frames and direct executive follow-up.
A representative of the Director General of Finance, Ziad Al-Sheikh, participated in the meeting, along with the Director of the Treasury, Rana Karam, the Director of Imports, Muhammad Wafaei, the Advisor, Claudine Karaki, and a number of officials and specialized employees in the two directorates.
A main part of the meeting was devoted to discussing the revenue file, where the attendees reviewed the progress achieved in expanding the scope of electronic permits and services, and transferring more operations to digital systems to reduce manual transactions and improve data accuracy. The discussion also touched on developing matching mechanisms and linking payment processes to tax costs automatically to speed up file completion and reduce errors.
In the treasury file, the research focused on improving the flow of information between the treasury, tax administrations, and payment entities, with the aim of accelerating reconciliation processes and determining the amounts paid more accurately. The discussions showed a noticeable expansion in the use of electronic payment channels, including payment in foreign currency, in parallel with an increase in the confidence of those responsible for these means, at a time when efforts continue to address the technical and operational constraints that hinder full benefit from them.
The meeting also discussed the issue of accumulations dating back to previous years, where a practical plan to address them was discussed, coinciding with the development of new systems and procedures to prevent their recurrence in the future.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Jaber stressed that “digitization is not a goal in itself, but rather a means to improve collection, facilitate transactions for citizens and taxpayers, and raise the efficiency of the state’s financial management.”
This meeting comes within a series of periodic meetings held by the Minister of Finance to follow up on the performance of the ministry’s directorates, monitor their needs and overcome the obstacles they face, in line with the ministry’s strategy aimed at expanding the scope of digital services, reducing paper transactions, and improving revenue and treasury management.
