Road Town, Tortola - Employees from the Ministry of Finance and the Development Planning Unit (DPU) recently participated in an Expenditure Forecasting workshop, geared towards readying both departments to prepare a fiscal framework for the Virgin Islands.
The workshop, which was hosted by the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC), was held on March 2 – 5 at the Central Administration Complex. The facilitators were Messrs Michel Marion and Ryan Skeete, consultants with CARTAC.
Mr. Marion explained, “A fiscal framework represents fiscal projections over a period of time, used to align the projections of total revenues, total expenditures and debt stocks and flows to the fiscal targets.”
In developing the framework, participants looked at variables like debt interest, goods and services and capital spending, and the various factors that influence prices, historical spending trends, and crises that affect the economy.
Participants from the Ministry of Finance were Policy Analyst I, Mr. Jeremiah Frett, and Budget Officer I, Mr. Jeremy Vanterpool. Also in attendance were statisticians Mr. Reginald Hodge and Mr. Michael Malone from the DPU.
With regards to the importance of revenue and expenditure forecasting, Mr. Frett said, “Government’s decision makers will have access to information in order to better plan for the future.”
He continued, “Specifically, if any reductions are made, through forecasting, they would be able to see how that would impact the budget over a period of time.”
In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, Financial Secretary, Mr. Neil Smith said, “It is important that projections are made based on some analytical framework.”
Mr. Smith added, “It is important as well that we approach the way that we spend, the way that we budget, and the way that we collect revenue, based on that framework.”
The Financial Secretary also expressed, “If we expect to be able to meet the challenges of the future and the present, it is absolutely critical that we not just engage in this exercise on an intermittent basis, but we should make it a permanent fixture throughout the public service.”
Earlier workshops focussed on Revenue Modelling and Forecasting were held in March 2008 and September of last year, and were attended by employees from various ministries and departments.
The Virgin Islands is one of the founding members of CARTAC, which was established in 2001. The primary objective of CARTAC is to assist members in improving their current practices in critical areas of economic and financial management, including budget, tax policy and administration; financial sector supervision and regulation, and offshore centres.
The CARTAC forecasting workshops are in line with the Ministry of Finance’s mission, which is to implement an economic and fiscal strategy aimed at promoting financial and economic stability, growth and development in the Virgin Islands.a
British Virgin Islands News