December 19, 2016: The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development on December 14, 2016 signed an agreement for a $US forty million ($40,000,000.00) loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a project entitled ‘Support to Strengthen Trinidad and Tobago’s Public Financial Management System’. The general objective of the Project is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Trinidad and Tobago’s Public Financial Management to allocate public resources for public service delivery through modernization of the financial framework and information management. Mr. Tomás Bermudex, Representative of the IDB in Trinidad and Tobago, signed the agreement on behalf of the IDB.
The expected outcomes of the project are to improve (i) the strategic allocation of public resources; (ii) the control and stewardship of public resources; and (iii) information management for decision making. Once implemented, this process will ensure that budget decision making and delivery is driven by smart data, has the desired positive impact for citizens and operates within a contemporary context that meets the needs of all stakeholders.
The total cost of the Project is estimated at US$40 million, which will be disbursed over a period of five (5) years. The Executing Agency is the Ministry of Finance.
The Project comprises the following two (2) components:
Component I - Support for Public Financial Management Modernization - to contribute to the modernization of Public Financial Management (PFM) procedural and legal frameworks for budget preparation and execution through:
• Development and implementation of a new budget classification based on a Government Finance Statistics (GFS) - compliant Chart of Accounts (CoA) and a treasury accounting framework that complies with International Public Sector Accounting Standards,
• Development and implementation of a change management strategy,
• Development and implementation of institutional instruments to sustain public financial management modernization efforts,
• Design and implementation of an Internal Audit (IA) framework to improve public financial management control, transparency, and reporting,
• Review of the PFM legal framework and preparation of recommendations to strengthen the framework,
• Business process reengineering for budget preparation and execution processes.
Component II - Support for Implementation of an Integrated Financial Management Information System - to improve Information Management (IM) for PFM through the following activities:
• Establishment of a centralized IT governance framework within Ministry of Finance,
• Implementation of a Commercial Off-The-Shelf Integrated Financial Management (COTS- IFMIS) solution with government-wide coverage, including customization, data migration, and integration services.
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For further information please contact:
The Corporate Communications Unit
Ministry of Planning and Development
868-627-9700 ext 2073/2074