$1.1 Billion Allocated To Public Sector Transformation Project
By: , February 23, 2021The Full Story
Approximately $1.13 billion has been earmarked to continue the Strategic Public Sector Transformation Project’s implementation by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, during fiscal year 2021/22.
The allocation is contained in the 2021/22 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.
The Project, which commenced in 2014, is divided into five components and aims to strengthen public resource management and support select public-sector institutions in facilitating a more enabling environment for private-sector growth.
Components one and two focus on strengthening the Public Investment Management System (PIMS), and the budget preparation process and results-based budgeting, respectively.
The third component targets adaptive public-sector approaches to promote fiscal sustainability; component four focuses on the Accountant General’s Department’s modernisation; while component 5a zones in on fostering industrial and trade facilitation at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ).
Key achievements were recorded under components one, two, three and 5a up to December 2020, with total external funding assistance received up to then amounting to $3.5 billion.
These achievements include establishment of the Public Investment Management Secretariat (PIMSEC), which is being institutionalised with the Finance Ministry; commencing implementation of the Public Investment Management Information System (PIMIS); development of Jamaica’s first Open Government Partnership Action Plan; reorganisation of Finance Ministry Departments; and retrofitting/upgrading of select BSJ laboratories.
Programmed activities for 2021/22 include continued PIMIS implementation and the facilitation of activities to support legislative changes for the separation of the BSJ’s regulatory functions.
The project, which initially ran until September 2020, has been extended to December 2021.
Funding is being provided by the Government of Jamaica, World Bank, United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).