FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN DOMINICA

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 000207 SIPDIS EEB/IFD/OMA JULIA JACOBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON PREL XL SUBJECT: FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN DOMINICA REF: STATE 028885 ¶1. (U) This cable responds to reftel request for information on fiscal transparencyin Dominica. Responses are keyed to reftel quesions. -- Is the central government expected to eceive or is it already receiving U.S. foreignassistance funded using FY 09 funds? Dominica bnefits from some regional programs for the Eastern Caribbean funded out of USAID's Eastern Caribbea program, as well as a few targeted bilateral programs, but these funds are not provided directly o the central government. Although USAID is actie in the region, it currently does not fund progams supporting fiscal transparency or good goverance. The Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) is available to 19 Caribbean counries to assist these countries to achieve their acroeconomic, 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 Dominica 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. Dominica has not volunteered for the IMF to report on the country's compliance with standards and codes covering fiscal transparency. There are some aspects of the budget, in particular the Development Aid Account that includes funding from the People's Republic of China, and the Government of Venezuela that have limited disbursement details. In contrast, development aid from the European Union is placed in a separate account controlled by the National Authorizing Officer and audited directly from the EU delegation in Barbados. -- 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