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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 42 - Wednesday May 07, 2003 |
PM Charles Heads for Washington to Discuss Budget by Thomson Fontaine
Prime Minister Pierre Charles will leave for Washington next week to hold discussions with officials of the International Monetary Fund (IM F) on among other things, Dominica�s upcoming budget. He will be accompanied by tourism minister Charles Sevarin and Director General of Finance Swinburne Lestrade.
The Prime Minister who is also minister of finance is expected to present government�s budget to Parliament on June 16, 2003. Lestrade noted recently that this year�s budget will focus on additional measures that will help spur economic activity and begin to turn Dominica�s economic situation around.
Dominica is currently participating in a one year Standby financing arrangement with the IMF, and has taken on a stabilization program in an attempt to eliminate a yawning fiscal gap where government recurrent expenditures continue to exceed recurrent revenue. Negotiations are also ongoing with the institution for a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement.
The discussions in Washington are expected to focus on measures to be included in this year�s budget, which will allow Dominica to meet targets for reducing the fiscal deficit as was agreed under the Standby financing arrangement.
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