An assessment report on the covid-19 Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) will be presented to the Government soon.
A private independent firm supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been engaged to carry out independent assessments on the impacts of the scheme on the national economy.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, McKinnie Dentana said at a media conference today the report was expected to completed and presented to the government at the end of June but was delayed due to some unexpected matters.
At the height of the covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021, the government introduced the scheme to support private businesses including farmers and fishers to keep the economy afloat.
Furthermore, the scheme was perceived as one of the government’s major policy redirection programmes that supported national economic activities in view of the closure of international borders that hindered international trade.
The scheme was administered by a team of economic and political experts from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Monitoring and Evaluation on the implementation of the scheme was one of the strict requirements which the government carried out during the implementation period and reports were submitted to the Independent firm to verify and assess before a final report is presented to the Government.
“The report was expected in June this year but due to some important matters that needs proper consultation the independent assessment decided to delay its completion and will be completed soon,” PS Dentana said.
He added that the report will be presented to Cabinet and onwards to Parliament and will also be released to the Public.
– GCU
