GUYANA RESPONSE TO FY09 PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000194 SIPDIS EEB/IFD/OMA JULIA JACOBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON PREL GY SUBJECT: GUYANA RESPONSE TO FY09 PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS WHOSE BUDGETS ARE NOT TRANSPARENT REF: STATE 28885 ¶1. (U) The following is Post's response to reftel questions regarding fiscal transparency in Guyana. ¶2. (U) As stipulated by law, the Government of Guyana publicly disseminates its annual budget. The Minister of Finance presents the budget to Parliament in the presence of the media and members of the public; copies of the Budget Estimates and the Budget Speech are provided to the Parliament Library, the National Library, and to various organizations, including US Embassy Georgetown. The budget presentation given to Parliament and an abbreviated overview of the budget is published on the government information agency (GINA) website (http://www.gina.gov.gy). All revenues and expenditures are included in the publicly available budget. The information within is considered to be generally accurate, though most of the detailed facts and figures generated within the GoG deserve close scrutiny. ¶3. (U) USG programs exist to strengthen Guyana's capacity to develop sound fiscal policies and support transparency and good governance. As a 2007 recipient of Threshold Program funding under the Millennium Challenge Account, Guyana has received $6.7M over two years to promote transparency and accountability in budgeting. Specifically, the Threshold Program aims to reduce the country's fiscal deficit by strengthening tax administration and tax implementation. It also seeks to enhance fiduciary oversight and improve business registration. ¶4. (U) Guyana has volunteered for the IMF to report on the country's compliance with standards and codes covering fiscal transparency. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2008/pn 0845.htm Jones