The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $5 million loan to Trinidad and Tobago to assist the development and implementation of a strategic plan that will result in a comprehensive and progressive transformation of the public sector.
Among the goals of the program are the identification of the structural structural rigidities that hinder the public sector’s effectiveness, economy and transparency and the development of viable strategies to correct these rigidities. The strategic plan will be a road map to a progressively applied series of measures to improve the structure of government spending and optimize the public sector’s size, management structure, organization, functioning, human resources, legal framework, accountability and delivery mechanisms.
The IDB financing will help the government identify the main issues involved in the transformation process, build the necessary consensus necessary to implement the transformation strategy and develop some basic management instruments to help the government steer the reform process.
The program, which supports Trinidad and Tobago’s national goal of achieving developed country status by 2020, will include the provision of technical assistance, training, equipment, studies and the establishment of a panel of experts for quality control during the process.
The loan, a sector facility for institutional development, is the first of its kind by the IDB under a package of new flexible financial instruments adopted by the Bank in 2000. The financing is for a 20-year term, with a three-year grace period, at a variable interest rate. The Ministry of Public Administration and Information is in charge of carrying out the program.