Planning of Antigua & Barbuda

Formulation

The Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance (MoFCG) was the authority in charge of the formulation of the Medium-Term Development Strategy 2016 to 2020.

Implementation

The MoFCG is in charge of making ministerial or institutional arrangements, with close inter-ministerial coordination as required under the MTDS implementation framework. In adopting this framework plans are linked to budgets; budgets are executed, monitored and evaluated; and monitoring and evaluation is used to improve performance of ongoing operations as well as to inform the subsequent preparation of better plans. In this connection, coordination of actions across functional lines of government is best served by a ministry tasked with both the national budgetary function and the national development planning function. The MoFCG should therefore be reviewed and realigned to enable it to more effectively carry out the development planning and budgeting functions.

It shall also be the responsibility of the MoFCG to recommend to the Cabinet and to coordinate -once approved- steering committees formed to ensure that necessary conditions are in place for achieving Sustainable Development Dimensions that underpin flagship priorities. The Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance shall consult with the ministries which have substantive responsibility for the areas concerned and will make recommendations to cabinet on the rationalization of existing committees. All committees will have a reporting relationship with the MoFCG as well as with the ministry under which the substantive activity falls.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The institutional framework for Monitoring and Evaluating (M&E) will involve a set of four working committees to be chaired by the Statistics Division or the Ministry of Finance, with close collaboration between them. Participation in the M&E working committees will be by the same ministries, other public sector bodies and State-owned Enterprise (SOEs). These stakeholders will be represented by those individuals with responsibility for data collection and monitoring and evaluation.

The MoFCG in consultation with the Statistics Department will determine the frequency with which M and E Working Committee meetings will be held. On the basis of the information obtained, the MOFCG in consultation with the ministry responsible for the substantive area, will deliberate on actions needed to improve the achievement of results, and will in turn make recommendations for action by Cabinet, Ministries, other public sector bodies or SOE.

Connection to sectorial planning

The MTDS implementation framework requires inter-ministerial coordination to carry out the action plans linked to sectorial budgets.