Strategic Flexible Funding Facility Gets $5 Million

A sum of $5 million has been allocated to the Strategic Flexible Funding Facility in the 2013/2014 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

The aim of the project is to respond to the strategic short-term development needs of the Government of Jamaica, by facilitating well defined short-term interventions needing high quality research and analysis, which will have high impact with quick turn around time.

Achievements up to February, 2013 include: costing of the Public Sector Transformation Programme; contract for Short-Term Policy Based Loan Consultant; development of a growth inducement strategy for Jamaica; implementation of Public Sector Investment Prioritization System; draft of a Debt Management Law; research and documentation of Public Sector Transformation Process; and a study tour to review public sector transformation process in Singapore.

Other achievements include the revision of the Financial Stability Law; functional reorganisation of the Public Enterprises Division of the Ministry of Finance and Planning; Financial Services Commission Legislative Reform; attrition study for removal of 30 vacant posts from the public sector; and revision of Commonwealth Caribbean and Jamaica’s Legislation.

Anticipated targets for the new fiscal year include: revision of the Securities Act, Probate Law, and the revised Consolidated Supervision provisions; amendment of the Companies Act; reforms of the taxation system; and the issuing of drafting instruction for the Omnibus Legislation.

The programme is being funded by the Government of Jamaica and the United Nations Development Programme. It is scheduled to be completed by December 2013.

By Latonya Linton, JIS Reporter