Treasury boss promoted to deputy accountant general

Theresa Walters, Deputy Accountant General

(CNS): Caymanian accountant and former manager of the Treasury, Theresa Walters, has been appointed as the deputy accountant general in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Walters will be responsible for managing the preparation of the core government’s budget and consolidated reports for the entire public sector, including statutory authorities and government-owned companies. She is also the senior technical advisor on the government’s budgeting and reporting systems.

The post of deputy accountant general is the latest of a number of important positions in government, some of which have been vacant for years, to be filled by a Caymanian civil servant, following much criticism of public sector managers in the past for poor succession planning within the civil service.

Watlers’ appointment took effect on 1 February. She said she was grateful for the opportunity and was looking forward to working with her colleagues to “improve the quality of government’s financial information and contributing to greater fiscal responsibility”.

An accounting professional with over 10 years experience in both public and private sectors, Walters holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Starting her professional career with the Internal Audit Unit and then as the deputy chief financial officer in the then Portfolio of Finance and Economics, she has held various senior roles in the public sector relating to regulation and finance. Prior to returning to government service as manager for the entire public sector reporting, she was employed in the private sector as finance manager and company secretary of LIME, Cayman Islands.

She was welcomed to her new post by both the Financial Secretary and Chief Officer, Kenneth Jefferson, and Accountant General Matthew Tibbetts.