CNMI implements financial system blackout

The Northern Marianas government is in the middle of a financial system blackout, but the Secretary of Finance Tracy Norita says it is not cause for alarm.

Starting from October 1st to the 9th, the department will be locking the CNMI’s Munis Financial System, which means all financial activities for fiscal year 2024 will not be processed until October 10. The blackout period will allow the Dept. of Finance to audit the central government’s finances, reconcile accounts, address outstanding financial matters, and conduct maintenance on the management process. 

"This is a normal part of the accounting process. It's not unique to the CNMI. We also have some federal agencies that do the same thing. They have a blackout period where we're not even able to have any federal drawdowns," she said in response to KUAM News.

She added, "So I just want to mention that this is not a unique thing that we've done as part of an accounting process. And I'm glad that we're giving them the opportunity to catch up and actually stay on time with closing our books. But what this also means, and that I wanted to highlight, is that payroll would not be affected. And I know that's a concern of a lot of employees is whether they will be paid during this period. And the answer is yes. And then also in regards to our revenue collection, the collection points, our cash flows will remain operational. So that is something that we made sure will continue."

This is the first time the CNMI has implemented a financial system blackout.