M2 Division Chief, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department

Mr Singh, AFRITAC South Coordinator and Director of Africa Training Institute

Colleagues from IMF and AFRITAC South

Participants from the Eastern, Southern African and Indian Ocean region

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very pleased to be present with you today for the opening session of this regional workshop on fiscal transparency and accountability.   I would like to thank Mr Singh for his kind invitation to address you today.

EU-IMF cooperation for AFRITAC South

Now, many of you must be wondering why the European Union is one of the speakers for today's opening ceremony.  Well, the reason is very simple: the EU and the IMF are close partners and we collaborate at various levels.

The objective of the collaboration between the European Union and the IMF through the EU’s funding to AFRITAC South  is to support sound macroeconomic, financial and fiscal policies in the region.  This also contributes to enhanced regional integration and sustained economic growth in the 13 countries covered by AFRITAC South by harmonising standards and providing enabling conditions for economic growth. Regional organisations like COMESA, IOC, and SADC also benefit from our support to implement commitments taken for better integration in the region.

The European Union is the lead financier of AFRITAC South, along with the EIB, GIZ, UKAid, etc.   We have been working with AFRITAC South since the very start of its operation in Mauritius. I believe that AFRITAC South offers a unique opportunity to the European Union and other development partners to work with IMF for better economic management in the African region.

The capacity development work done by the IMF through the regional technical assistance centres like AFRITAC South contributes to the creation of stable macro-economic environment, efficient public financial management, debt sustainability.  It does so through capacity development and technical assistance in key areas like tax policy, public financial management, financial sector management, statistics and monetary policy. 

The European Union pursues the same objectives.   This makes the EU and the IMF strategic partners in promoting capacity development and in achieving sustained progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Last year the European Union approved an envelope of 50 million euros to continue supporting IMF Regional Technical Assistance Centres like AFRITAC South.  The contracting is currently on going and should be finalised in the coming few months.  The innovation is that is new contract will cover all RTACs as well as ATI, thereby increasing the coverage to the whole of the African continent.  Our Delegation will be responsible for the management of this new contract.

Importance of Fiscal Transparency and Accountability for the European Union

Ladies and Gentlemen

The regional seminar today focuses on how to further fiscal transparency and accountability. Transparency, integrity, and accountability are the essential prerequisites of a democracy based on the rule of law. They promote good governance and build trust in the policy-making process, thereby enhancing the legitimacy and credibility of public institutions. They are also extremely important political tools in preventing corruption and bad governance practices.

Transparency requires the disclosure of information on policy-making and spending, while ensuring citizens’ access to such information. It is therefore a key element to build accountability of and trust in decision-makers.

The intertwined principles of transparency and accountability are at the core of relations between institutions and citizens for the European Union

Fiscal Transparency and accountability in the budget support instrument

These principles are equally important for our development cooperation as the EU implements the budget support instrument in many of our partner countries.  I am sure many of you here present have budget support projects with the European Union in your respective countries.

Budget support involves the transfer of financial resources to the National Treasury of a partner country, following the fulfilment by the Government of the mutually agreed conditions for payment. Transfers are to a Government account held at the Central Bank. Budget support funds must be included in the State budget and fiscal accounts as grants.

Fiscal transparency therefore becomes key, so much so that one of the general conditions to be satisfied by partner countries to be eligible to budget support is that they have to demonstrate satisfactory progress with regard to the public availability of accessible, timely, comprehensive and sound budgetary information;

We have recently completed a budget support operation in Mauritius for the health sector.  I am pleased to say that the EU positively assessed Mauritius on the eligibility conditions, including the one related to fiscal transparency and therefore the disbursement of the budget support funds of 7.8 million euros could be made in full.  Of course everything is not rosy.  Our positive evaluation had also a series of recommendations and findings, that were broadly in line with the IMF Article IV recommendations of 2022.

Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Favourable evaluations should not be restricted to a few countries.  All countries in the Eastern and Southern region should benefit from support from development partners in the field of fiscal transparency and accountability.   We are therefore very pleased that AFRITAC South and IMF Fiscal Affairs Department are organising this regional seminar today, so as to devise ways and means to improve fiscal transparency and accountability by adopting IPSAS financial reporting.  The ultimate objective being to bring fiscal information closer to citizens.

Conclusion

The peer to peer learning proposed in this seminar is a good initiative, as it will showcase various experiences across the globe; and I can see on the agenda that there will be presentations of country experiences by Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania and Mozambique, all very interesting and diverse experiences for the   participants gathered here today.

I thank all the organisers and all those who have worked hard behind the scene to make the regional seminar a success.

I wish you a fruitful workshop

Bonne journée à tous et à toutes.