High Turnover Strains Treasury Department Operations

Accountant General Teresita Miranda has raised serious concerns about staffing problems at the Treasury Department, warning that high turnover and the need for highly skilled officers have made it difficult to keep financial records up to date.

“Our greatest challenge has been recruitment, retention, and turnover,” Miranda told the Joint Public Accounts Committee (JPAC) on Friday. “Currently, as I am speaking, yesterday I received a letter of resignation from an officer. An officer who has been trained for the past six months. In the seventh month, he decided to resign.”

The resignation, she explained, means the department must start over with training, a process that takes months and slows progress. “It means now that it will take another six months for me to train somebody, and that is a huge amount,” she said.

Miranda stressed that the department’s work is far more complex than routine ministry accounting. With 12 specialised units covering cash management, fiscal operations, and revenue, officers need a broad understanding of the department.

JPAC was told that staff shortages are making it harder to deal with backlogged financial statements and thousands of transactions waiting to be reconciled. Even with these problems, Miranda said her team is moving ahead with weekly training, standard reporting, and a plan to strengthen the Treasury’s work.