The meeting of the TCOP thematic group on Cash Management was held on March 16-18, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. The Turkish Treasury hosted the event attended by 38 TCOP members from 11 countries (Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine).
The main objective of the event was to offer an opportunity to members to deepen the understanding of selected issues of priority interest for the group based on experience of the hosting country, Turkey. Participants had the opportunity to hear from the hosts about how Turkey manages and forecasts its cash position, along with the strengths and challenges confronting Turkey in optimizing it.
The 1st day, devoted to the hosting country experience, concluded with group discussion on the strengths and challenges for Turkey in cash management and forecasting and the applicability of the approach used in Turkey for other member countries.
Day 2 was devoted to discussions on specific aspects of cashflow forecasting and management. A thematic survey was conducted prior to the meeting largely focused on the design of the TSA in the group member countries. A presentation summarizing the findings of the survey was delivered by Mark Silins, the TCOP PFM Expert. The next session was devoted to participating countries' experience, and representatives of Albania, Moldova and the Russian Federation delivered relevant presentations on TSA arrangements in their countries. The final presentation on Day 2, delivered by international debt and cash management expert, Michael Williams, addressed the issues of targeting the TSA balance and determining a cash buffer. The second half of Day 2 was devoted to group discussions on TSA and issues related to cash buffer.
Day 3 commenced with a report back on the group discussions from Day 2. This was followed by an open panel session, involving the World Bank experts, where participants were free to explore further the issues that emerged during the group discussions. The final session of Day 3 was devoted to internal discussions on the future activities of the thematic group on Cash Management.
