ECLAC Development Project to assist Caribbean SIDS with public sector account management

Caribbean governments are set to gain greater capacity in the management of public finance. During the next three years, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will help deepen the expertise of policy-makers and finance managers in the application of methods and procedures for better management and forecasting of public expenditure, revenue and debt.

The recent global economic crisis has been  particularly severe on the economies of the Caribbean, especially on those that depend heavily on services for their economic growth. Four countries in the region have had debt levels in excess of one hundred percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

One aspect of significant concern is the capacity of public sector officials to manage and forecast public expenditure and revenue - two critical areas for controlling fiscal imbalances and high debt.

Various internal economic reduction programmes, and external International Monetary Fund (IMF) stabilization efforts implemented to address the issue, have yielded alternating results. .

It is within this context that ECLAC is launching the Development Project entitled “Strengthening the technical capacity of public finance managers in select Caribbean SIDS to manage their public finance”. The Development Project, which will run from 2014 to 2017, will facilitate sustainable revenue and expenditure operations by improving public finance management systems – thus strengthening the ability of Caribbean Governments to effectively manage their public expenditure, revenue and debt.