KATHMANDU, June 23: The government on Thursday officially launched the Sub-national Treasury Regulatory Application (SuTRA); an online portal-based financial management system, on Thursday.

Targeting to improve the financial management system in the local bodies, the government, with support of the UK government, has enforced the SuTRA based modules in all 753 local governments for the last two years. Through this mechanism, 210 local governments are so far connected in the e-payment system.

Handing over SuTRA to the Government of Nepal amid a program, UK Ambassador to Nepal Nicola Pollitt said the public financial management system is an important part of the government accounting system to upgrade from the traditional single account system. “The system makes the local governments more accountable through making the government transaction at the local levels more transparent,” Pollitt said.

According to her, SuTRA helps deliver state programs based on demand. “However, the success of the system relies on the collaboration of the local governments to consistently update information about their financial transactions on a regular basis,” Pollitt added.

The government began developing SuTRA after the first local elections in 2017 and the Council of Minister approved it for use in all local governments in 2019. The system consists of 13 modules and sub-modules.

The system provides up-to-date information on budget balances and prevents payments unless an adequate fund remains with the local levels. It enables municipalities to generate financial statements quickly and easily.

Financial Comptroller General Suman Aryal said SuTRA has helped save both time and money for the federal as well as the local governments in managing public finances. According to him, the system has also enabled the government to monitor the transfer of fiscal grants along with their utilizations at the local levels.  

 
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