EU helping Guyana become eligible for budgetary support

Last Updated on Friday, 10 July 2015, 13:45 by GxMedia

The European Union (EU) is helping Guyana prepare the groundwork to draw down budget support for the sugar and sea defence sectors.

The EU mission here said this is being through a six-month project to asses Guyana’s Public Finance Management and prepare a Budget Transparency Action Plan.

“The assignment will last until the end of this year and is intended to assist GoG in meeting the criteria for the EU’s budget support operations for the Sugar and Sea Defence Sectors,” said the EU mission in a statement.

Leading the work in that regard is former Auditor General and current Public Finance Management Consultant, Anand Goolsaran. He signed a contract with the EU on Thursday, July 9, 2015 to help improve various systems for the Guyana Government.

Inking the contract on behalf of the EU was EU Ambassador Robert Kopecky who remarked that “these efforts are in keeping with desired improvements of Public Finance Management, Accountability and Transparency in Guyana.”

The EU in January announced that it would not be disbursing €20.2 million (US$22.4 million) payout as budgetary support for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and €14.8 million (US$16.5 million) for the sea defence system until Guyana first proves that there is a transparent and accountable system.

Kopecky is already on record as saying that it could take Guyana months before it is able to access the funds.