Tuesday, as part of the process of state reform and in order to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to modernize the management of the Treasury, Wilson Laleau, the Minister of Finance has received a mission from the U.S. Treasury Department, represented by Gregory Mabrosio.

To energize and modernize the Treasury, the Ministry Laleau, wants to implement tools to find mechanisms to finance the budget more adequately. The objective of the mission concerned inter alia the development of the financial market through the Treasury.

Recall that the current internal financial resources consisting of the customs and tax revenues and own funds, represent 34% of Haiti's budget (fiscal year 2012-2013) that proportion is expected to rise to 40% this year, thanks to the tools to be established by a Steering Committee composed of Ministry, of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), the Directorate of Civil Pension and Employers Association of Banks (APB). Own funds consisting of income from the activities of public enterprises to the state, represent a paltry amount, hence the need for a dynamic and integrated approach to generate new revenue.

The balance of the state budget, which is financed by external resources, mainly composed of Petrocaribe funds, budget support, project aid (external borrowing) and Treasury Bill should be structured to reflect the reality of expenses and enable informed decision-making for a fiscal strategy based on reliable and practical data.

The programmed Petrocaribe funds at 26 billion gourdes, consists of 9 billion Gourdes in new resources and 17 billion Gourdes in resources postponed of the previous fiscal year, for projects already running.

Budget support in 2012-2013 representing an amount of 4 billion Gourdes should remain stable for the current fiscal year.

External borrowings financed to 26 billion in 2012-2013, is expected to be 30 billion Gourdes this year, while Treasury Bonds (internal borrowing) of around 8 billion Gourdes will be used to make profitable investment projects, already designed and ready to be funded.

The modernization tools that will result from this mission, so will allow the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to smooth expenditure and fund strategic projects to ensure economic growth for the country.

According to the Minister Laleau, this new approach will also "build the credibility of the system, make it transparent and reliable, so that the Haitian and foreign investors base their investment decisions on economic and financial data of quality."

HL/ HaitiLibre