The European Union has confirmed its participation in the 5th phase of the International Monetary Fund’s Regional Technical Assistance Centre in the Caribbean (CARTAC) over the period January 2017 to April 2019.
The EU, in agreement with the Caribbean Forum of the ACP States (CARIFORUM), has made a contribution of EUR 5 million from its Regional Cooperation Programme.
Marc Thill, Head of Cooperation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS, and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, said “CARTAC has been highly successful in this region and the EU is proud to support the institution further over its fifth phase. The EU views CARTAC as an essential institution in the Caribbean that helps to improve economic management and the achievement of its development goals. The EU is a strong proponent of principles that CARTAC also promotes such as sustainable and inclusive economic growth, good governance, efficiency in public service delivery, and safeguarding financial stability. These principles are very much in line with the EU’s “Collect More — Spend Better” message and the EU flagship “Domestic Revenue Mobilisation Initiative” that will assist countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
David Kloeden, CARTAC Program Coordinator, said “We are extremely pleased to continue to work with the European Union and CARIFORUM in the Caribbean. Our partnership is leveraging the comparative advantages of our institutions for the benefit of our partner countries, as they continue to strengthen their economic governance and tackle the challenges of low growth, high fiscal deficits and financial sector strengthening.”
CARTAC’s 5th phase continues to support capacity building in 20 Governments, and Territories across the Caribbean region with high-quality training and technical assistance in the areas of macroeconomic statistics, macroeconomic programming and analysis, public financial management, revenue administration, and financial stability and supervision. This capacity building enables the region to better address challenges such as low growth, large fiscal deficits, high debt and financial sector weaknesses. The EU has supported CARTAC since its establishment in 2001 with a total of EUR5.5 million. CARTAC is financed by the EU, the United Kingdom, Canada and the IMF, with contributions from its membership. CARTAC is hosted by the Government of Barbados.
Worldwide, the European Union has contributed over EUR160 million to IMF capacity development since 2000.
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