58
Caribbean Development Bank Development Effectiveness Review 2020
Governance and accountability Good governance is central to the achievement of the region’s growth and development objectives, as well as the SDGs. This involves building public institutions that deliver services in an efficient, effective and equitable manner. Promoting good governance is a key cross-cutting area in the Strategic Plan 2020-2024. Table 10 shows results, achieved by CDB’s operations in this area for 2020 and for the five-year strategy period. CDB’s governance portfolio consists of initiatives at the local, national, and regional levels. The modalities used by the Bank include TA, policy-based loans (PBLs), and institutional strengthening components to support investment loans and grants. Areas of focus include financial governance and macroeconomic management, debt management, public financial management, and tax administration, policy dialogue, procurement, anti-corruption, and money laundering. CDB provided PBLs totalling $90 mn to the Bahamas, Dominica, and Saint Lucia, in support of their policy responses to address the COVID-19-related fallout and a deepening of their policy reform agenda for improved debt sustainability (fiscal and public financial management reforms) and resilience (social, economic and environmental reforms). The loans included budget support, which provided timely resources that helped to ease liquidity constraints and preserve economic and fiscal stability within the BMCs.
Providing financial support to enhance national procurement systems is crucial to maximising development results and improving fiduciary responsibly of CDB’s operations. Procurement reforms continued during the year, with new procurement laws and regulations drafted for Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Virgin Islands, and similar work commencing in Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat. In addition, CDB, in collaboration with the World Bank, supported the drafting of a new procurement law for Dominica, which formed part of a resilience PBL to the country. The reforms will allow the ministries of finance and procurement oversight and operation functions in the four BMCs to enhance their decisionmaking and operations frameworks in the area of procurement. The initiatives will assist in strengthening country public procurement systems, to provide modern transparent processes, which facilitate better value for money within the public sector. CDB continued to support persons from almost all the BMCs in accessing formal procurement training accredited by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) which is offered by the regional Procurement Centre at the University of Technology in Jamaica. Over 85 persons from 40 organisations in 13 countries expanded their procurement knowledge and obtained Level 4 CIPS certification through the centre. During the year, 21 persons (including 16 females) registered for the CIPS level 4 diploma in procurement and supply online course (see Box 6).
Table 10: Level 2 – CDB’s contribution to good governance and accountability
Indicator
Progress 2020
Projected 2020-2024
Progress to date (%)
Governance and accountability 28. Ministries, departments, and agencies with improved public financial management systems and public sector investment programmes and public service delivery21 (number)
21
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6
28
21%
