A recent training workshop facilitated by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean has “opened the eyes” of the Ministry of Finance of Saint Kitts and Nevis on how budgeting can be done “better”, according to Mr. Calvin Edwards, Deputy Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. The objective of the workshop was to build the capacity of public officials to conduct Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs) with applications to their respective sectors.
PERs are intended to align expenditures with government’s pri…
A proposal to address the Caribbean’s high debt burden and strategies to achieve sustainable development in the region will be the focus of discussions when two important meetings of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): the Caribbean Development Roundtable (CDR) and the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) convene in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, on 21 and 22 April 2016, respectively.
The CDR brings together senior level policymakers from governments of the Caribbean; officials of the United Nations system; representatives of regiona…
This article analyses the impact of the increasing use of electronic means of payment on the demand for cash (banknotes and coins). It estimates two models: one with panel data and the other with cross-sectional data. The two methodologies offer complementary views for evaluating the degree to which electronic means of payment act as a determinant of currency in circulation. The study identifies an intense substitution process between cash and electronic means of payment, which is common to most of the economies analysed. However, there are also a number of idiosyncratic factors that explain t…
The 29th session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) concluded on 14 October in Paramaribo, Suriname. Some of the most urgent and challenging issues facing the Caribbean were discussed at this meeting, inspiring a commitment to strategic action-oriented follow-up, to assure more dynamic sustainable development process.
Convened by ECLAC Caribbean, the CDCC meeting is held every two years and gathers Caribbean Prime Ministers, Ministers and distinguished government officials, with a focus on strengthening their countries’ institutional and technical capacities to impr…
Twenty Government officials from Belize benefited from a one week workshop to build capacity in Conducting Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs), focusing on Applications for Education, Health, Agriculture and Social Protection. PERs are intended to align expenditures with government’s priorities. They are also intended to provide savings, either from expenditure reallocation or by reducing unproductive expenditures. In addition they improve fiscal management and can provide fiscal space especially when a country is experiencing high debt levels.
The workshop conducted by ECLAC Caribbean, wh…
Convened by ECLAC Caribbean, the CDCC meeting is held every two years and gathers Caribbean Prime Ministers, Ministers and distinguished government officials, with a focus on strengthening their countries’ institutional and technical capacities to improve their resilience to economic, social and climatic impacts.
Participants also included regional and international development thinkers and practitioners, leaders and senior policy makers from ECLAC member States and associate member countries, representatives of the UN System, regional and international financial institutions, academia…
Under the auspices of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), two important initiatives were undertaken to assist the Philippines to develop, design and implement an effective unemployment protection scheme. These initiatives included: 1) a study tour for officials and policy makers from the Philippines on Viet Nam’s Unemployment Insurance Scheme and 2) a workshop on implementing reforms on the Philippines’ protection from unemployment schemes.…
The current survey provides an overview of the economic performance for 2013 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago plus the eight member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and the outlook for 2014 and 2015. Data were collected from a review of reports from national governments and through interviews with government officials in each of the countries analyzed.…
The survey provides an overview of the economic performance for 2014 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago plus the eight member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and the outlook for 2015. Data were collected from a review of reports from national governments and through interviews with government officials in each of the countries analyzed.…
The report provides an overview of the economic performance for 2017 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago plus the eight Member States of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), and the outlook for 2018. Data were collected from a review of reports from subregional institutions as well as national governments and interviews with government officials in each of the countries examined.…
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has provided a “strong answer” to what senior public officials across the Caribbean have been searching for in order to improve the budgeting process of public administrations, according to the participants of a week-long regional training workshop that provided officials with robust tools and techniques necessary for more effective management of public finances.
Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs) are intended to align public sector expenditure with the priorities of national governments. They also promote increased savings, ei…
In his first official visit to Washington D.C. since being appointed Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs was a speaker at the 54th Annual Washington Conference: Advancing the Business Case for the Americas, organized by the Council of the Americas, and at the Wilson Center’s event No More Lost Decades: Opportunities From Nearshoring, the Energy Transition, and Other Drivers of Sustainable Growth, while also participating in meetings with the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Inter-American Dialogue…
Through the astute analysis of official statistics, we can gather a more complete picture of the economic performance of a given country, and understand more fully what have been its drivers, leading to a more effective use of national resources and a more efficient design of policy options. However, the myriad of information and numerical data across the system of macroeconomic statistics can be challenging to interpret in a straightforward manner. In order to synthetically assess economic performance across countries in Latin America we propose the use of a composite indicator, which builds …
Abstract
This paper presents three demographic models useful for projections of social sector demand. The first model is a probabilistic national population forecast based on the collective experience of UN member states. It offers a set of probabilistic forecasts as a complement to the official UN scenario forecasts. The second model forecasts the population by age and educational level using data from a single census. Forecasts are presented for Chile which show dramatic changes in the educational composition of the elderly population and in the working-age population in the near future. The…
An ECLAC contribution to the meetings being held on the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); Buenos Aires, April 2001
Foreword
The Division of Integration and International Trade of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); has prepared this document on the basis of official figures provided by the countries and from documents produced by the Division of Economic Development, the Division of Social Development, and the Statistics and Economic Projections Division.
ECLAC, in its capacity as a member of the Tripartite Committee, the other members bei…
The eight Millennium Development Goals - which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV and AIDS and providing universal primary education by 2015 - form a blueprint for tackling critical issues facing developing countries: poverty, hunger, inadequate education, gender inequality, child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation. The Caribbean Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 reviews progress in the Caribbean subregion towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on the basis of the most recent data available from official coun…
The purpose of this study tour is to provide officials and policy makers from Latin America the opportunity to learn first-hand how two important Thai national development banks, the SME bank and the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), are enhancing the access of small and medium enterprises in Thailand and exchange views and experiences on the subject.…