Afghanistan pushes back debt mountain with Commonwealth help

Afghanistan, as it emerges from its tumultuous recent history, is a nation in dire need of investment, reconstruction and development.

But it is also a country keen to avoid building up unsustainable levels of national debt.

To help with the unenviable task of balancing the country’s books, the Afghan Government has now installed a pioneering financial software system for managing public and external private sector debt.

The Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS) – designed by the Secretariat and first deployed in the 1980s to help countries burdened by debt - will allow Afghanistan to get “comprehensive and accurate information” on the country’s public finances, according to its Ministry of Finance.

“It will assist us,” says Abdul Rahim Jamil, Head of the Ministry’s Debt and Asset Management Unit, “in reviewing whether the country’s debt remains sustainable and can be serviced under different circumstances or not.”

Already used by 58 other countries – including 15 non-Commonwealth members - the software allows users to effectively record and manage various kinds of external and domestic loans, liabilities, securities and grants.

The installation of the computerised debt management system, importantly, also helps the country meet a crucial qualifying condition for assistance under the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

Mr Rahim Jamil declares he is impressed with a number of its features, including its “user-friendliness” and ability to handle debts in numerous currencies.

Importantly, he says, the adoption of CS-DRMS means his team can replace the simpler software programmes they had used previously for the task of managing public debt.

“Before we were using Excel spreadsheets to prepare our debt reports and projections which led to a number of errors,” he explains.

“Working in Excel was very time consuming, but now using CS-DRMS we can get our desired reports and projections within just a few clicks.”

“Personally, I am impressed with the pre-defined reports in the system,” he adds. “It gives a number of reports with a high degree of flexibility. In addition to these pre-defined reports, we can create customised reports according to our need.”

With CS-DRMS now installed and in use, Mr Rahim Jamil and his team can provide reliable and timely information on the country’s debt portfolio as well as publish consecutive quarterly reports in line with international standards on public debt.

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Related News:

• Ministry of Finance Afghanistan