Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
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Dominica PM announces completion of Growth and Social Protection Strategy
07-20-2006

ROSEAU, Dominica: In his presentation of the 2006/2007 Budget last Tuesday, Dominica’s Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Planning, Roosevelt Skerrit, confirmed the completion of Government’s Growth and Social Protection Strategy (GSPS).

The GSPS articulates a medium-term strategy for growth and poverty reduction over the next five years. The Government has established that poverty reduction is the direct focus of its economic and social policy. The Skerrit administration regards the pursuit of sustained economic growth to be the main strategy to alleviate poverty.

According to Skerrit, the GSPS provides the overarching framework that informs the medium-term macro-economic framework, the structural reform agenda, the medium-term public investment programme and the annual budgets to be presented to Parliament.

The Prime Minister told Parliament that the GSPS seeks to foster growth in the economy by building on four pillars: Fiscal Policy and administrative reform; Enhancing the investment climate for private enterprise development; Sectoral Strategies for growth and Strategies for poverty reduction and social protection.

The GSPS has a high degree of public ownership. The document was prepared after extensive consultations and discussions involving senior staff of the Ministry of Finance and Planning and all the Permanent Secretaries spanning the various ministries across government.

The GSPS benefited from the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) consultative process and report. The Country Poverty Assessment of 2003 was also used in the formulation of the GSPS.

Thirty-five Local Authorities, nineteen Community-based Organizations, ten Non-Government organizations and nineteen Government Organizations participated in focus group discussions. The views of over 1000 representatives were directly or indirectly represented at those discussions.

The Prime Minister hailed the completion of the GSPS as a significant development: “Completion of the GSPS is a significant achievement in the context of going forward to grow the economy and reduce poverty. It constitutes our country’s development strategy into the medium-term. It is reflective Madam Speaker, of a Government that has a clear vision, mission and plan, driven by a sense of purpose that is realistic and responsible.”

In December, 2003, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved a three year US$11.4 million credit for Dominica under the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility on the basis of the World Bank’s approval of Dominica’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

Subsequently the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica proceeded to prepare a full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) which is a requirement under the PRGF arrangement. The PRGF is the IMF’s concessional facility for low-income countries.

Given the Government’s renewed emphasis on the pursuit of sustained economic growth, Government opted to broaden the scope of the PRSP to include, not only poverty related issues, but also to outline a growth strategy for the country. Hence the preparation of the Growth and Social Protection Strategy.

The GSPS will be tabled in Parliament shortly.