FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN ST. LUCIA

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 000201 SIPDIS EEB/IFD/OMA JULIA JACOBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON PREL XL SUBJECT: FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN ST. LUCIA REF: STATE 028885 ¶1. (U) This cable responds to reftel request for information on fiscal transparency in St. Lucia. Responses are keyed to reftel questions. -- Is the central government expected to receive or is it already receiving U.S. foreign assistance funded using FY 09 funds? Dominica benefits from some regional programs for the Eastern Caribbean funded out of USAID's Eastern Caribbean program, as well as a few targeted bilateral programs, but these funds are not provided directly to the central government. Although USAID is active in the region, it currently does not fund programs supporting fiscal transparency or good governance. The Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) is available to 19 Caribbean countries to assist these countries to achieve their macroeconomic, fiscal, and monetary policy objectives. This program operates as a UNDP project with the IMF serving as the executive agency. It is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, the Inter-American Development Bank, Ireland, the IMF, the UK Department for International Development, the UNDP, the EU, and the World Bank. -- Is the host country's budget publicly available? The Government of St. Lucia practices fiscal transparency by making its national budget publicly available on an annual basis. The government does this by announcing the budget in an open forum of parliament annually and doing a budgetary review in parliament at the end of the fiscal year. St. Lucia has not volunteered for the IMF to report on the country's compliance with standards and codes covering fiscal transparency. -- Are incomes and expenditures included in the publicly-available budget? Yes, the budget is open for public scrutiny through its budgetary offices, and available on the government website. The publicly-available data are generally accurate and meaningful and include all revenues and expenditures. HARDT