Guyana partners with CEMLA to improve capacity in debt management

Nov 10, 2016 News

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan

Guyana is currently working with the Centre for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), a regional partner, who has agreed to enter into a medium-term cooperation framework to provide country-specific capacity building support in public debt management.

This is according to the first ever annual report on public debt covering the period 2011 to 2015.

According to the report which was prepared by the Ministry of Finance, CEMLA, through the financing of the Swiss Government (SECO), conducts a Public Debt Management Capacity Building Programme (PDP), which is being undertaken in Guyana.

The Finance Ministry said that the PDP was developed in response to the risks and vulnerabilities associated with public debt in the globalised financial system, as has been demonstrated clearly by the recent international financial crisis. It said that these associated vulnerabilities demonstrated the need for ongoing improvements in the analyses and management of financial liability.

It was noted that the primary aim of the programme is to assist governments in maintaining public debt sustainability and, improving macroeconomic management by helping them design and implement sound public debt and financing strategies.

The Finance Ministry outlined that the PDP can perform a number of activities, including design of financing strategies, covering: external financing and renegotiation; domestic financing and restructuring; sustainability analysis at the central government and sub-national levels and; legal and institutional framework; debt portfolio and risks analysis; and other areas based on country-specific demands.

The PDP’s objective is to provide country-specific capacity building support in public debt management on a demand driven basis.

To understand a country’s specific needs, the Ministry of Finance noted that a Demand Assessment Mission (DAM) is designed to assess the country’s debt management capacities and serve as a basis for formulating and/or updating a training programme.

The objective of the DAM in Guyana’s case was therefore two-fold. The Finance Ministry said that the DAM intends to undertake a debt management performance assessment based on the World Bank’s Debt Management Performance Assessment methodology (DEMPA) and prepare a Country Strategic Plan (CSP) based on the assessment of debt management capacities and priority areas identified by the Government.

After assessment in the DAM, the CSP for Guyana was designed considering four main areas of intervention. These include ‘Back-Office’ (BO); ‘Middle-Office’ (MO); ‘Front-Office’ (FO) and Regulatory Framework (RF).

This design was considered based on an assessment of public debt management capacities. Generally, the Finance Ministry said that the overall results for the implementation of the Country Strategic Plan are expected to include a few aspects such as participants applying acquired knowledge into formulation and implementation of national debt strategies.

The Finance Ministry said that the enhancement of the debt management capacities and coordination are strengthened.

The Ministry said that Guyana intends to seek the assistance of other development partners, such as the Commonwealth Secretariat in strengthening the area of Debt Management in terms of the legal framework.

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