THE GOVERNMENT of Jamaica's (GoJ) budget received some breathing space with a ¤2.95 million (J$231 million) grant from the European Commission (EU) yesterday.
The disbursement was made in the context of the third Support to Economic Reform Programme between the Government and the commission.
Yesterday's grant constituted the second tranche of budget support grant funds under the ¤30 million ($2.2 billion) programme. The scheme is being implemented over the course of three years. A first tranche of $833 million (¤11.1 million) was paid in September 2004. The third and final tranche is scheduled for 2006.
GOVERNMENT'S OWN PRIORITIES
Budget support is a form of development assistance that ensures full ownership of the beneficiary government. As has been the case in the past, the Government will manage these funds according to its own priorities since their availability is not linked to the implementation of any specific expenditure.
According to the EU, the third tranche in 2006, of up to ¤11.8 million (J$855 million), will be determined by Jamaica's performance in key socioeconomic areas such as health, education, poverty reduction and public finance management.
The implementation by Jamaica of its socioeconomic Medium Term Framework, which outlines the country's own social and economic priority areas for the next three years, is a key condition for disbursement of EU budgetary support.
Since 2000, the EU has provided over $6.4 billion in budgetary support to Jamaica.
