Grants and Contributions

CARTAC works to build the capacity of governments across 23 Caribbean countries and territories to strengthen their institutional and human capacity to design and implement sound macroeconomic policies to promote growth and reduce poverty. The project aims to achieve these objectives through delivery mechanisms such as providing capacity development and training by long-term experts based in the region and short-term advisory assignments, in-country workshops, and regional training seminars. There are 12 technical specialists primarily based in Barbados at the headquarters of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC). They engage in supporting a wide range of economic areas such as financial stability, tax administration, customs, financial sector supervision, macroeconomic programming, real sector statistics, external sector statistics, and public financial management (PFM). Established in November 2001, CARTAC is one of 10 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Regional Technical Assistance Center. CARTAC is in its sixth phase of operations and is a pooled funding mechanism of donor and Caribbean country resources that supports 23 countries and territories across the Caribbean. Phase VI will particularly focus on integrating gender and climate resilience across all work streams.

CIDA’s grant to the Canada-IMF Technical Assistance Sub-Account supports technical assistance to developing country governments to build their capacity to address public debt, balance of payments problems, and financial sector crises. Specific areas of technical assistance include public debt management, public expenditure management, and financial sector reform. Activities include diagnostic studies, training courses, workshops, on-line advice and support, and the placement of technical assistance experts and advisors.

Technical assistance is a core activity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and accounts for one quarter of its operations budget. IMF technical assistance helps countries design and implement sound macroeconomic policy, which is essential to sustainable economic development and a key element of the response to financial crises. The majority of the Fund’s technical assistance is provided to low- and lower-income countries. By helping individual countries reduce economic weaknesses and vulnerabilities, the Fund’s technical assistance contributes to a more robust and stable global economy.

The project works to build the capacity of governments across the Caribbean to strengthen their institutional and human capacity to design and implement sound macroeconomic policies to promote growth and reduce poverty. The project works to achieve these objectives through delivery mechanisms such as providing technical assistance and training to long-term experts based in the region, as well as short-term advisory assignments, in-country workshops, and regional training seminars.
There are 10 technical specialists based in Barbados, where the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) is headquartered, who are engaged in supporting a wide range of economic areas: financial stability, tax administration, customs, financial sector supervision, macroeconomic programming, real sector statistics, external sector statistics, and public financial management (PFM).

CARTAC was established in November 2001 and is one of ten International Monetary Fund (IMF) Regional Technical Assistance Center.

CARTAC is in its fifth phase of operations, and is a pooled funding mechanism of donor and Caribbean country resources that supports 23 countries across the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Monserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Enhancing Public Financial Management in the Caribbean initiative promotes improvements in public financial management capacity of target countries during a period of rising financial vulnerabilities. The initiative provides support to Caribbean countries that are facing crises and are prepared to deal with long-standing weaknesses in their fiscal and economic management through a fiscal reform program supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF works with governments, providing short, medium and long-term advice and training designed to respond by country to the precarious financial situation or the conditionalities of IMF extended fund facility arrangements.
The fund supports two packages of technical assistance. The first, valued at $5 Million to respond to Jamaica’s extended fund facility arrangement with the IMF which is to help support its four-year macroeconomic adjustment program to undertake necessary fiscal and economic reforms. The second valued at $10 million is to respond largely to tourism-dependent Eastern Caribbean countries undergoing deepening financial vulnerabilities and potentially subject to extended fund facility arrangements with the IMF in view of their debt burdens.