The Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Friday hosted a high-level seminar in New Delhi to share India’s Public Financial Management (PFM) practices with countries of the Global South. Heads of missions, senior diplomats and PFM experts from Guyana, Cuba, Mauritius, Maldives, Timor-Leste, Fiji and several other partner nations attended the day-long event.
The seminar served as a platform for knowledge exchange on treasury reforms, fund-flow management, audit frameworks and public expenditure systems. Delegates engaged actively through technical discussions and sought clarifications on India’s digital and treasury architecture, reflecting the growing convergence of fiscal challenges across developing economies.
In her keynote address, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur outlined the macro-fiscal reforms undertaken over the past decade and stressed that strong public finance management systems are essential for effective policy implementation. She highlighted the role of digital public financial management—particularly the Public Financial Management System (PFMS)—in enabling real-time monitoring of fund flows, improving fiscal discipline and creating space for growth-led capital expenditure.
Thakur underscored the benefits of integrating PFMS with digital payments and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which she said has reduced leakages and ensured direct delivery of subsidies and welfare benefits. Tools such as e-invoicing, e-way bills and faceless tax assessments, she added, have widened the tax base and strengthened revenue flows without increasing tax rates.
Secretary (Economic Relations) Sudhakar Dalela highlighted India’s internationally recognised advances in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), noting ongoing collaborations with countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia. He emphasised the MEA’s focus on long-term, customised partnerships through development cooperation channels, technical missions and capacity-building programmes.
In her opening remarks, Controller General of Accounts TCA Kalyani stressed India’s long-standing ethos of custodial integrity in public finance and the centrality of treasury discipline, rooted in the principle of “Koshpoorvah Sarvarambhah”. She showcased how platforms such as PFMS and the DBT ecosystem have transformed fund routing, improved reconciliation processes and strengthened fiduciary oversight.
Technical experts delivered detailed presentations on FRBM reforms, GST implementation, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), India Stack foundational DPIs, DBT systems, and external audit practices. Delegates shared their domestic PFM challenges and expressed interest in adopting elements of India’s digital financial architecture.
The seminar also acted as a precursor to India’s proposal to establish a Public Financial Management Forum or Alliance for the Global South—an institutional platform for continued dialogue, capacity-sharing and the co-creation of PFM reform strategies. The proposed forum will focus on areas including treasury modernisation, liquidity management, DPI-enabled PFM tools, citizen-centric service delivery and accountability frameworks.
The event concluded with a shared commitment to strengthening public finance systems across the Global South through digital innovation, institutional reform and sustained collaboration with India.
