The United Kingdom Strengthens its Partnership with the IMF; Contributes US$7.8 Million toward Economic Institution Building in the Caribbean

September 27, 2016

  • Since its establishment in 2001, CARTAC has provided support to economic institution building and related training needs to its 20 member countries in the Caribbean.
  • CARTAC’s work focuses on economic prosperity, governance, and disaster risk reduction, and remains a much-needed resource in the region to help countries strengthen their economic resilience.

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) today became the first development partner to participate in the new five-year phase (2017–22) of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Regional Technical Assistance Center in the Caribbean (CARTAC), with a contribution of GBP 6 million (about US$7.8 million). Mr. Mark George, Deputy Head and Growth Team Leader of DFID’s Caribbean Office met today with Ms. Sharmini Coorey, Director of the IMF’s Institute of Capacity Development, to recognize the renewed partnership between the IMF and the United Kingdom in the Caribbean.

At the conclusion of today’s meeting, Mr. George said: “The United Kingdom is pleased to continue its longstanding cooperation with the IMF for the delivery of capacity development services in partner countries. CARTAC strongly complements our work in the Caribbean focused on economic prosperity, governance, and disaster risk reduction, and remains a much-needed resource in the region to help countries strengthen their economic resilience as they continue with their efforts to achieve their development goals.”

Ms. Coorey made the following statement: “The United Kingdom is a key contributor to the IMF’s capacity development work, and I am delighted that it will continue its support to CARTAC. Our shared vision for economic development has helped build economic institutions and boost growth in the region, and we look forward to further deepening this partnership.”

Background information

The United Kingdom has contributed approximately US$130 million to IMF capacity development since 2002. It has been supporting IMF regional centers in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Caribbean, and work on key topics such as anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism, tax and financial sector reform, and economic institution building in Somalia and South Sudan. It has also supported improvements in statistics and analytical work on low-income countries.

The Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC ) is one of ten IMF Regional Technical Assistance Centers (RTACs) worldwide. Since its establishment in 2001, CARTAC has provided support to economic institution building and related training needs to its 20 regional member countries. Building on its achievements to date, during 2017–22 CARTAC will particularly focus on helping countries improve domestic resource mobilization, enhance fiscal governance, and strengthen economic statistics and macroeconomic programming and analysis.

RTACs provide hands-on, regionally‑based support for IMF member countries to develop the institutions and skills necessary for sound economic and financial policies that promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty. RTACs are financed jointly by the IMF, external development partners, and member countries.

Regional technical assistance and training centers complement global thematic funds to support the IMF’s capacity development activities worldwide.

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