2 T Pages 4-8 he annual Atlantic Hurricane Season can justifiably fill us all with a sense of anxiety foreboding and dread. In that Devon Rowe, Executive Director CARICAD milieu our Ministries and Departments of Government can become more deeply insular and detached. This can be the case especially with Ministries of Finance. They often regard themselves as being “above the operational fray“ of the other Ministries. “Finance” sees itself as providing financial and material resources for others to use to achieve national objectives. It is the others that must deal with the hurricanes. I am a Former Financial Secretary and I worked in Public Finance for many years. Yes I have been there but I never did that. My perspective is that in relation to Resilience and vulnerability reduction for hurricanes, Ministries of Finance are essential and pivotal. However it is impossible for us to deal effectively with preparations for and responses to hurricanes if Ministries of Finance are only on the planning fringes and not at the core. Ministries of Finance are responsible for: • Accounting to Parliament for the use of public money • Promoting financial stability • Providing strategic advice to the Government on both economic and financial policy priorities Pages 12-13 • Advising on critical sectoral financial needs • Managing the budget process • Allocating financial resources within the public sector • Releasing funds according to schedules and exigencies • Producing consolidated public accounts • Bringing focus to national development strategies • Managing debt payments • Recommending and overseeing public investments • Aligning Economic development strategies with Public Financial Management • Influencing the allocation of financial resources by sectors • Reallocating financial resources to respond to crises and emergencies of all kinds Pages 14-17 • Planning for Scenarios that could adversely affect public finance • Providing technical assistance in expenditure controls • Developing, introducing and maintaining accountability and expenditure monitoring systems • Continues on next page
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