By Andrew Laidley
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – The government has approved a $200 million grant for the University of the West Indies (UWI) to facilitate the establishment of a Fiscal Research Centre.
This was announced by minister of finance and the public service, Dr Nigel Clarke, who indicated that the provision is “a special grant on top of the usual subvention of $200 million”, adding that “approval for the disbursement was given last Friday, October 18”; speaking during the project’s launch at the UWI Mona campus in St Andrew on Tuesday.
The Centre is intended to teach and share knowledge on public financial management techniques and practices, and will also engage in forward-thinking research.
Dr Clarke pointed out that the Centre is also intended to be able to serve a policy leadership role, “because you’re looking five to ten years ahead, you’re looking at what’s happening internationally, you’re looking at what’s happening locally, and you are producing output”.
“The opportunities for research, teaching or learning of public financial management are very scarce in the region. Public financial management courses at an undergraduate level just do not exist; and that is one of the gaps that we’re seeking to plug with the establishment of a physical Research Centre here at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies,” the minister added.
The launch featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the UWI and the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD). A partnership agreement was also signed by the finance ministry, UWI and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
UWI Mona Principal, Professor Densil Williams, said: “We’re very proud to be partnering with the government, our IDB multilateral partners and all of the others that are involved in this institutional arrangement. I think that if we have an institutional arrangement that is now going to help us to better appreciate the power of fiscal discipline to drive that kind of stability that we need in the macroeconomy, the consequences are great.”
Meanwhile, the IDB has indicated that it will provide US$250,000 for climate change research and US$400,000 for general research and capacity-building.
IDB general manager for the Caribbean region, David Rosenblatt, said:
“We hope that this will be a nice seat for helping, along with contributions from others, both in kind and in finances; we also hope that we can help bring more partners to the table.”
The Fiscal Research Centre will strengthen and complement Jamaica’s fiscal oversight framework and engage in regional knowledge sharing.
“The Fiscal Commissioner is here and he’s in the process of finalising his team, with the aim to get going in the next fiscal year. The idea is not that the Fiscal Research Centre duplicates or competes with the Independent Fiscal Commission. The Fiscal Commission plays an entirely different role. The Fiscal Commission is invested in today’s results, today’s policies and making sure that those are consistent with a medium-term framework and outlook,” Dr Clarke explained.
“As Caribbean people, we recognise that our prosperity is inextricably linked with the prosperity of the region; and so, the expectation is that the Fiscal Research Centre will look into research concerning fiscal matters in other countries in the Caribbean.”
“What we’re domesticating is regional capacity here at the Fiscal Research Centre in Jamaica, and that will present, obviously, more fulfilling career options for those who participate in the Fiscal Research Centre,” the minister stated.
