Financial Liquidity Management in Local Government Units of the Eastern Poland Macroregion

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess financial liquidity management in basic local government units of Eastern Poland. Aspects that were mostly considered include the awareness of the importance of financial liquidity among the chief accountants of the surveyed units, the occurrence of possible problems with the timely payment of liabilities and liquidity management instruments used. The research covered 210 local government units (100 rural municipalities, 100 urban-rural municipalities and 10 cities with district rights) from five voivodeships located in the Eastern Poland macroregion. The research methods that have been used include analysis of the subject literature and the method of the diagnostic survey using a questionnaire. The survey was conducted among chief accountants of the budget of selected local government units of the Eastern Poland macroregion. Based on the conducted surveys, it was found that the majority of managers of local government units noticed the importance of financial liquidity and in recent years did not notice problems with the timely payment of liabilities. Approximately 30% of respondents admitted to problems with financial liquidity. The main reason for the occurrence of disturbances in the timely payment of liabilities was achieving lower income and revenue than planned, as well as improper management. When analyzing applied liquidity management instruments, it was found that these were most often multi-annual financial forecasts and detailed schedules of income and expenses.