International Journal of Public Sector Management

An institutional review of planning budgeting and monitoring in the Caribbean:

Challenges of transformation
Ann Marie Bissessar
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Ann Marie Bissessar, (2010),"An institutional review of planning budgeting and monitoring in the
Caribbean", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 23 Iss 1 pp. 22 - 37
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IJPSM
23,1 An institutional review
of planning budgeting and
monitoring in the Caribbean
22
Challenges of transformation
Ann Marie Bissessar
The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an institutional overview of the budgeting systems
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that are employed during three major periods: pre-1960s, post-1960s and 1990s to present New Public
Management (NPM budgeting) in five Caribbean countries: Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Belize,
Guyana and Jamaica.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks at the budgeting systems that are employed
during the period of colonial rule, when the countries attained independence and the budget system
that is presently employed. It relies heavily on the financial regulations to explain the procedures that
are employed in budgeting during the pre-independence period.
Findings – It suggests that while the budgeting systems during the pre-1960s may have been
effective, given the scope and functions of government at that period, as countries attained
independence the systems would have been found to be inadequate to meet the needs of the country
since the scope and size of public sector activities would have increased considerably. The paper then
examines the attempt by the various countries, during the 1980s and 1990s, as they attempted to
introduce New Financial Management Initiatives as one aspect of the move towards NPM. While a
number of these countries attempted to introduce the foundation on which to introduce the initiative,
however, it is found that there are a number of challenges in introducing these changes. The paper
accordingly examines some of these challenges.
Originality/value – This paper is to date the only attempt to assess budgeting in Caribbean
territories.
Keywords Budgets, Budgetary control, Public administration, Financial management, Caribbean
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Perhaps, the most central process for any government is its budget and its
accompanying institutions. Clearly, if any government is to achieve the tasks set out in
its manifesto, it will require an adequate supply of money. However, the budget should
not be viewed merely as an administrative tool, but, as some writers (Peters, 1984)
suggest, often becomes a crucial battle ground since it decides on how much, where, and
when to allocate resources which are always scarce in relation to demand. It determines
not only the prospects of a single government agency but also the prospects of many
citizens for a better quality of life and for the success of the entire economy. A budget has
International Journal of Public Sector multiple dimensions. The first, of course, is the problem of allocation of resources
Management between the public and private sectors of the economy. The budget must also balance
Vol. 23 No. 1, 2010
pp. 22-37 between the amount received and the amount spent – income and expenditure.
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0951-3558
Thus, while on the one hand resources are disbursed, on the other hand through taxes
DOI 10.1108/09513551011012303 and revenues, revenues are collected. Essentially, then, simple budgeting is about
 balancing the “books”. While this concept of budgeting may have been relevant during Planning
the pre-1960s in the Caribbean, as this paper will illustrate, because of the increases in budgeting and
competing interests, the budget has moved from a very simple exercise to one in which
multiple actors are now involved in the budgeting process. As the society has grown, monitoring
so too has the complexity in budgeting which has transcended income and expenditure
concerns to include systems of planning, forecasting, monitoring and evaluating. In
other words, this paper argues that not only the approaches to budgeting but also indeed 23
the very institutions of budgeting are now under scrutiny. In order to understand the
challenges inherent in the planning budgeting, and monitoring systems in the
Caribbean, however, one has to understand the origin of the system and the traditions to
which that gave rise. Inevitably, then, some historical regression is necessary.

Planning and budgeting and monitoring pre-1960s

Many of the English-speaking territories have inherited from the departing colonials a
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system of line item budgeting. This system was one in which departments were
required to submit estimates to the treasury (The Accountant General) which were
then forwarded to the Governor for deliberation at the legislative council[1]. The agreed
budget was then transmitted to the Secretary of State in Britain (Figure 1).
Not unexpectedly, this approach to budgeting was a fairly simple affair since the
functions of the colonial state was limited to the maintenance of basic infrastructure,
the collection of taxes and security considerations. Essentially, then, budgetary
requirements were limited to payment of salaries and goods and services with minimal
emphasis being placed on infrastructural development. Even though the budget was a
simple system of accounting, however, there were a number of standard operating
procedures governing the process of budgeting. These procedures dictated how
transactions were to be handled. While specific procedures may have differed slightly
from one colony to the other, they generally consisted of the following steps. First, the

The secretary
of state

The
governor
The
treasury-
accountant
The
general
secretariat

Departments Departments

Figure 1.
Governing systems in the
British West Indies
 IJPSM annual appropriations were divided into quarterly allocations. Second, contractual
23,1 commitments were approved and made. Third, goods and services were received and
finally, payments were made.
Because colonial administration was a devolved form of administration, it was
understandable that one of the major institutional emphases was placed on regulations
and controls. One of the earliest regulations in place related to the Financial Instructions.
24 Chapters 1 and 2 of these instructions defined the roles and responsibilities of the
various officers in addition to setting out the nature and type of accounting system that
should be employed and maintained. Chapter 3 outlined the procedures to be followed in
submitting estimates of revenue. According to the instructions:
Heads of Departments who are responsible for the collection of any form of revenue shall
submit annually to the Accountant General on the approved forms estimates of the sums
which it is anticipated will be collected by their departments during the ensuing year. These
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revenue estimates must be submitted not later than 31st of July (BWI, 1956).
The chapters that followed also made provision for the estimates of expenditure,
receipts and also the authorities for expenditure. What was useful in these regulations,
though, was the method of expenditure control that has been maintained today in most
Caribbean bureaucracies. Chapter 8 of the instructions recommended:
It is the duty of every Head of Department to watch the expenditure of his department with
reference to the accounts provided in the Estimates, and he will keep a Department Vote Book
in such form as will clearly show at any time of each subhead:
(a) The total amount of expenditure sanctioned for the service of the year.
(b) The expenditure incurred.
(c) Any further known liabilities in respect of the service of the year[2].
The system of checks and balances introduced at this time illustrated the strict controls
that the administration maintained at this period. Item 119 is well worth reproducing to
illustrate the level of control employed. It stated:
The Accountant General shall carefully check and file all schedules received from
departments and they will serve as his vote control record. He shall also cause each local
payment voucher to be examined to ensure that:
(i) the payment will not cause an excess on the amount provided in the Estimates as included
in the Governor’s Warrants, or in Special Warrants or in requisitions to incur expenditure;
(ii) the expenditure has been authorized by Warrant or approved Requisition; and
(iii) the information furnished on the vouchers is correct in all particulars [. . .] (Peters, 1984).
It is evident that the colonial power put in place processes, systems and forms which
have been maintained even though some territories have attained independence for well
over five decades. What is also fairly obvious is that the systems and procedures of the
bureaucracies in the Commonwealth Caribbean were subject to the influence from the
“mother” country[3]. Hood et al. (1999) perhaps illustrate this kind of control when they
observed, in another context, that there are three dimensions in these relationships:
(1) one bureaucracy aims to shape the activity of another;
(2) there is some degree of organizational separation between the “regulating”
bureaucracy and the “regulatee”; and
 (3) the “regulator” has some kind of official mandate to scrutinize the behaviour of Planning
the “regulatee” and seek to change it. budgeting and
Their diagram is accordingly useful (Figure 2). monitoring
Notwithstanding the varying dimensions involved in the budgetary system under
colonial rule, though, it was clear that the regulations that were put in place in the
colonies served the objectives of the colonial administrators. Not only did it allow for 25
order and efficiency within a bureaucracy which was quite small at that time, but it
also contributed to the smooth functioning of the state as well. In addition, the process
and procedures in place ensured uniformity in the 50 territories, which were scattered
over a geographical span of one million square miles. As was to be expected, though,
the budgeting as well as its attendant accounting system did not focus on output nor
was a lot of emphasis placed on planning.
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Planning budgeting – post-1960s to 1980s

During the period 1962-1981, many of the British territories attained independence
(Table I).
It should be recalled, though, that independence came only after a series of
experiments as to which political form would be best suited for the West Indies had
failed. For instance, attempts were made at associations, unifications and finally the
federal experiment. With independence, however, came a number of attendant
challenges and the period between the 1960s and 1970s became characterized as the
“development decade”[4]. Many countries introduced “development plans” which
provided the guideposts for economic and social policy (Rampersad, 1988). According
to Rampersad (1988), in adopting these plans, the country espoused certain broad goals
which he summarized as follows to[5]:
.
enlarge the basis for sustaining productive employment and rising incomes,
while at the same time reducing real income equality and enlarging economic
opportunity among the population;

One public organization shapes the

activities of another

And

The overseer is at arm’s length

Regulation inside
from the organization being
government
overseen

And

The same overseer has some kind

of official mandate to scrutinize the
Figure 2.
behaviour of the regulatee and seek to
Features of regulation
change it
inside government
Source: Hood et al. (1999, p. 9)
 IJPSM
Anguilla None (overseas territory of the UK)
23,1 Antigua and Barbuda 1 November 1981 (from the UK)
Bahamas 10 July 1973 (from the UK)
Barbados 30 November 1966 (from the UK)
Belize 21 September 1981 (from the UK)
Bermuda None (overseas territory of the UK)
26 Dominica 3 November 1978 (from the UK)
Grenada 7 February 1974 (from the UK)
Guyana 26 May 1966 (from the UK)
Haiti 1 January 1804 (from France)
Jamaica 6 August 1962 (from the UK)
Montserrat None (overseas territory of the UK)
St Kitts and Nevis 19 September 1983 (from the UK)
St Lucia 22 February 1979 (from the UK)
St Vincent and the Grenadines 27 October 1979 (from the UK)
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Suriname 25 November 1975 (from The Netherlands)

Table I. Trinidad and Tobago 31 August 1962 (from the UK)
Dates of independence
of Caribbean countries Source: Web site: www.silvertorch.com/c_independence.htm

.
achieve a basic minimum of economic security generally and food security in
particular, and satisfy the basic human needs of the population;
.
improve the quality of life through facilitating access to psychological income,
i.e. the arts, culture, sport and religion; and
.
foster national pride and maintain the integrity of the nation.

However, as Rampersad had to acknowledge, the real challenge which the adoption
of these development goals posed for the Caribbean countries – when these goals were
translated into rates of growth of output and income and of improvements in the quality
of life – derived from the reality that it required a transformation of the economic as well
as the administrative structures to plan and manage the process of change.
Many of the countries during this period introduced a policy of a mixed economy with
a major emphasis on promoting private sector participation. Private sector participation,
though, did not refer to private sector entrepreneurs within the country but rather
invitations to foreign investors[6]. In adopting this kind of policy, it was noted that these
islands had a number of assets to offer including a young population benefiting from
rising standards of education; natural resources such as hydrocarbons and soils suitable
for agricultural production; and a tropical climate, which made tourism profitable.
Yet, there were a number of weaknesses as well. For instance, the seven small
countries of the Eastern Caribbean – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica,
Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines – had a special
“developmental” problem. All of them had small populations and land size and all had a
long history as agricultural mono-economies relying on the export of one or at best a few
agricultural commodities. The standard of living was generally low and social and
economic infrastructure deficient everywhere except Barbados. In comparison with the
larger countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean, and again with the exception
of Barbados, they were considered as relatively backward and all in need of special
 assistance. For this reason they were classified within CARICOM as “less developed Planning
countries” to which special preferential measures would apply (Payne and Sutton, 2001). budgeting and
Accompanying independence, and it was a natural reaction since these countries
were now on their own, were fears of economic stagnation and political instability[7]. The monitoring
weaknesses identified during this period ranged from what was termed a “dependency
syndrome” to small domestic markets; undeveloped narrow, entrepreneurial and
managerial classes who were substantially averse to risk-taking; a framework of 27
institutions which could only respond slowly to the changing demands of the market
place; and an embryonic research and development capability supportive of economic
structures which were inherently non-viable.
On attaining independence, however, countries throughout the Caribbean introduced
legislation, structures and systems in order to produce more effective methods of
budgeting and controls as well as to promote economic development. Barbados, for
example, followed the Arthur Lewis model of capital import supplemented by local
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investment and public sector support (Worrell, 1996). The government established
a range of institutions to promote economic development, including a Central Bank,
the Barbados Development Bank, and an Industrial Development Corporation and in
1987 a Securities Exchange. In the case of Guyana, The Financial Administration
and Audit Act of 1973 (amended) outlined the procedures for the receipt, control and
disbursement of public monies and related matters. The budget, in the case of this
country, was prepared by the Ministry of Finance while the execution of the budget was
vested in the Office of the Budget ((The) World Bank, 1993). In Trinidad and Tobago,
regulations such as the Financial Regulations and well as the Exchequer and Audit
were introduced during the 1960s.
In 1959, Jamaica, like all the other ex-colonies, had adopted a dual budgeting
system which attempted to draw a distinction between recurrent and capital receipts
and expenditure on government account. Capital expenditures were intended to reflect
government investment in asset-creating programmes such as new roads, houses and
school buildings while capital receipts became the revenue earned. Accordingly, in 1966,
a consultant attached to the United Nations (UN), S.N. Singh was asked to submit
recommendations for the establishment of proper budgeting and accounting systems.
This assignment lasted from 7 June 1966 to 13 August 1966 (UN, 1966). The consultant
observed that in Jamaica, the form and content of the estimates was a classic example of
somewhat outmoded approach of line item or object classification. While, he noted, that
each ministry’s estimates gave an enormous amount of detail relating to personal
emoluments, they did not highlight the programmes or activities which should have
been of greater importance for parliament to consider and approve. He was quite correct
in stating:
Line item classification as the chief instrument of budgetary control could be defended in
terms of colonial administration, but ought not to predominate after independence.
Indeed, it can be argued, that the old approach of line item budgeting was unable to fulfill
the requirements of the newly independent territories. Apart from the increase in the size
of the government, it was evident that the countries had moved away from the primary
objective of the previous colonial administration of maintaining law and order to a more
developmental objective. It was clear, then that the major pressures for budgetary and
institutional reforms were no longer exogenous, however, but now primarily internal.
 IJPSM For example, the citizenry was becoming more informed and as a result increasing
23,1 demand was placed on governments. Apart from the internal pressures, though, a
number of other weaknesses in the original line item concept of budgeting were
identified by the consultant. These were:
. Since the functional distribution of ministries was apt to vary, there was no
continuity in the accounts and it was difficult to gather statistical information.
28 . The budgets merely focused on financial allocations and their utilization rather
than on achievements.
. There was little or no linkage between the budget and the development plans.

The consultant accordingly offered a number of recommendations and these would

have been relevant not only to Jamaica but also applicable to the other Caribbean
territories as well. He accordingly recommended:
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.
The introduction of a system of Programme and Performance Budgeting which
focused on both physical and financial targets.
.
The need to link planning to budgeting.
.
The training of staff in budgetary and accounting matters.
.
The need to strengthen the role of finance and accounts officers attached to
ministries. These officers should be under the overall control of the Ministry of
Finance who would have the power to transfer and rotate the officers between
the different ministries.
.
The need for closer links between the Permanent Secretary and the Finance
Officer.

While these recommendations seemed to be on target with the changing environment,

what was strange, was that little or no reforms were made to the budgetary structures
and approaches in any of the Caribbean islands during the period 1960-1980 – even
though there were increasing environmental demands. For example, in the 1970s,
many countries had embarked on the economic policy of nationalization – taking over
the commanding heights of the economy. The belief at this period was that a powerful
state, combined with a heavy dose of protection, could produce development. Stallings
(1992) noted:
Third world governments allied themselves with private bankers – or occasionally to public
donors – to obtain external financing for development plans, so international constraints no
longer appeared to inhibit growth and direct foreign investment could be restricted to placate
nationalistic sentiments [. . .]
The policy of taking over the commanding heights of the economy came with a number
of costs. In many of the islands of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Governments took
over all aspects of the economy. This resulted in weak private sectors, huge public
sectors and state-owned enterprises where the emphasis was not on profit or outcomes,
and nearly two-thirds of the gross domestic product went towards the payment of
salaries. The public sectors were accordingly criticized in all the Caribbean countries as
being both costly and inefficient[8].
By the late 1980s, however, the economic environment was in turbulence. Most
countries went into economic depressions which resulted in the worsening of living
 conditions, increasing prices, high levels of unemployment and debt burdens. With no Planning
relief in sight, governments had no recourse but to seek financial assistance from the budgeting and
Multinational Financial Institutions, the International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank. While there were a number of dimensions to the conditions that was suggested monitoring
by the Bank, one of the more critical recommendations was the introduction of sectoral
reforms. There were a number of dimensions to the reforms recommended but the
following areas were some of the more critical. These were: 29
.
Tax reform – it was recommended that tax rates should be reduced and a
value-added tax introduced.
.
Trade policy reform – it was advised that the dismantling of trade barriers
would significantly reduce the anti-export bias. Quantitative import controls
were to be removed and tariff rates simplified.
.
In addition to the reform of the tax administration system, broader reforms were
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suggested in order to increase administrative efficiency in the wider public

sector.
.
De-regulation – price controls were eliminated and subsidies were reduced and
in some islands eliminated.
.
Privatization – the objective of privatization was to return ownership of
significant segments of the economy to private ownership.
.
Liberalization of the foreign exchange market – inter-bank trading mechanisms
was introduced and the foreign exchange market was widened to include
non-bank institutions in the form of authorized dealers and cambios. Restrictions
on current account and capital account transactions were removed and the
exchange rate was allowed to move according to market forces[9]. By the 1990s,
therefore, most countries had embarked on a comprehensive reform programme
which, to a large extent coincided with the introduction of a new set of practices
referred to as New Public Management (NPM).

1990s-2007 – planning budgeting and NPM

NPM was a term that was introduced in the late 1990s starting in the UK and then
spreading to countries such as the USA, New Zealand, Canada and Australia (Hood and
Jackson, 1991; Christensen and Laegreid, 2001; Pollitt, 1993; Pierre and Peters, 2000).
There were a number of key elements in the new approach which departed from the
traditional model of Public Administration by relying heavily on the concepts and
practices of the private sector. Some of the key elements were:
.
A shift in the focus of management systems and efforts from inputs and
processes to outputs and outcomes.
.
A shift towards measurement and quantification, especially in the form of
systems of “performance indicators” and or explicit standards.
. A preference for more specialized, “lean”, “flat” and autonomous organizational
forms rather than large multi-purpose hierarchical ministries or departments.
.
A widespread substitution of contracts (or contract-like relationships) for what
was previously formal, hierarchical relationships.
.
The reliance on market-type mechanisms for the delivery of public services.
 IJPSM .
An emphasis on service quality and a consumer orientation.
23,1 .
A broadening and blurring of the boundaries between the public and private
spheres.
.
A shift in value priorities away from universalism, equity, security and resilience
and towards efficiency and individualism (Pollitt, 2004).
30 Essentially, with the idealized NPM model, the distinction between public administration
and business management became blurred. It was suggested that government units were
to be maintained only if financially viable, and if they did exist, they were to become
competitive. In addition, the NPM model now called for a critical change in the values of
the bureaucrats themselves. As Chan (2003) puts it:
The budget-maximising bureau chiefs are transformed into cost-conscious and
revenue-hungry entrepreneurs.
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Given this kind of predisposition, then, it is understandable that accounting

tools should figure prominently in the “new financial management” or New Public
Financial Management (NPFM)[10]. As Chan (2003) noted NPFM had a number
of characteristics, all of which drew heavily on private sector techniques[11].
These were:
.
The insistence that accounting principles, set preferably by professional groups
independent of government, should be used in budgeting.
.
Double-entry recording should replace the single-entry system.
.
Accrual accounting was offered as an alternative to the cash budget[2].
.
The government’s financial document should be presented as a whole to the
public.
.
The full costs of government services should be calculated as a basis for setting
prices both for public and internal services.
.
Outputs and outcomes should be measured, compared with benchmarks and
verified by value-for-money audits.

What was evidently emerging under NPM was not only a shift in the nature of the
budgeting system, but also a dramatic shift in the institutions of budgeting and
monitoring as well as in the attitudes and the values of the bureaucrats themselves world
wide. Table II accordingly illustrates the shift from the former approach to budgeting to
the new requirements under NPM.
As Table II illustrates NPFM involved a concerted movement away from the single
line item approaches to budgeting used to the need for a more performance-based
approach as well as the involvement of more actors in the budgeting process. It was
inevitable; accordingly, that with the introduction of new financial management policies
and reforms in the Caribbean that planning and budgeting would assume a critical role
however selectively it might have been done in the various countries.

Planning budgeting, monitoring and evaluation in Caribbean countries

Six major activities can be advanced as factors which facilitated the introduction of
NPFM systems. These were:
 Planning
Elements Classical model NPFM
budgeting and
Stakeholder Main stakeholder – government Multiple actors-government, private monitoring
sector, citizens, external agencies
Institution Hierarchical bureaucracy – mainly Multiple organizations – flatter
Ministry of Finance and Planning more competitive
(MOFP) 31
Goals and performance Legal and contractual conformity Efficiency and economy
Primary role of financial Implementing fiscal policy on Raising potential revenue, and least
management revenue, expenditure, borrowing cost method of service delivery
and investment
Image of bureaucrats Budget-maximizing civil servant A public entrepreneur focusing on Table II.
customer satisfaction, raising The movement from
revenues and cutting Costs. budgeting under classical
Regulating other actors public administration to
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Environment Lack of transparency Transparent and negotiable NPM

(1) The introduction of programme budgeting.

(2) The introduction of new technology.
(3) The extent to which governments have taken the initiative to improve/facilitate
interaction with stakeholders.
(4) New introductions with respect to monitoring and evaluation.
(5) The extent to which planning has been incorporated with the budgeting
process.
(6) Attitudinal changes on the part of public officers.

If, however, the budgeting cycle that is characteristic of all Caribbean territories
is examined it would appear that there is little or no participation by external
stakeholders (Table III).
What is evident from examining the process of planning budgeting and monitoring
systems in the Caribbean, however, is that there have been attempts to improve this
system. Table IV looks at the suggested pre-disposing factors for reform in five
Caribbean territories namely Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Belize, Guyana and
Jamaica (Table IV).
Essentially, what many of the countries had introduced were some of the
basic foundations on which to build new budgeting systems. New technology,

Phase Activity Institutions involved

1 Executive preparation MOF; MOP; Other Ministries; Cabinet

2 Appropriation bill House of Representatives, Finance Committee
Senate, President Parliamentary Authority,
Presidential Assent
3 Execution MOF, Auditor General, Ministry and Departments
4 Audit Auditor General
5 Review Public Accounts Committee (Trinidad and Tobago)
Table III.
Notes: MOF – Ministry of Finance; MOP – Ministry of Planning The national budget cycle
 Downloaded by New York University At 02:20 28 April 2015 (PT)

32
23,1
IJPSM

Table IV.

factors to NPFM
budgeting in five
Caribbean countries
Comparing pre-disposing
Item Trinidad and Tobago Barbados Belize Guyana Jamaica

Type of Line item Programme and Performance- Line item Programme budgeting includes: Programme budgeting (1993) and
budget Based Budgeting (1996?) project cycle man systems; accrual accounting
Public Sector Investment
Programme (PSIP) guidelines;
project prioritization guidelines
Technology Human resource information Introduction of: No data Web site and in progress Introduction of Fin Man which is
introduced system Financial management personal computerized a locally developed software
information system (FMIS) management system (PCMS), which basically is an upgraded
(Smart Stream) – 1998 computerized information FMIS that can do both cash and
Value for Money Audits – 1998 system accrual accounting
Accrual Accounting – 2004
E-government
Participatory Public consultations The introduction of Enabling No data Cognizant of the role of the The introduction of a National
mechanisms Environment for Private Sector private sector to the development Industrial Policy 1996-2020 – an
Investment (EEPSI) (2000) of the economy the Government integral part of this policy is a
– seeks to facilitate the of Guyana (GOG) has introduced social partnership which sets out
investment process within the following: agreements by which the three
Barbados by linking 14 critical Small Business Act social partners – government,
ministries in a single net work Investment Act labor and employers may
Go-Invest operate. In addition there is a
Industrial Development public consultation
Presidential Summit on the Process along with a customer
Private Sector service focus which is guided by
The GOG also use policy/ the introduction of citizens’
committee groups in their policy charters
deliberations
(continued)
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Item Trinidad and Tobago Barbados Belize Guyana Jamaica

Monitoring Evaluations undertaken by the The Auditor General’s Office is Monthly review of performance Assigned sector specialist; The budget is monitored by the
and Ministry of Finance; The Auditor legally mandated to carry out the against fiscal targets by MOF; monitoring guidelines; portfolio MOFP using the following
evaluation General; The Public Accounts value for money audits in all review by the Public Finance tracking; monthly portfolio mechanism:
mechanisms Committee of the House of government departments Committee comprised of review meetings; the Management Development
Representatives (Section 26(3) of the Financial Members of Cabinet strengthening of the Treasury Authorities (MDAs) monthly and
Administration and Audit Act. and Office of the Auditor General quarterly expenditure statement;
Important to recognize that the MDAs monthly miscellaneous
Audit Office does not have the revenue statements;
power to enforce its Reconciliation statement;
recommendations Also through project reports
and site visits.
It is evaluated by the Standing
Finance Committee at the
beginning of the financial year;
Public Accounts Committee
examines the audited statements
Planning Little link between National Draft National Strategic Plan Lack of long-term National Plan Embarked on five year rolling Public Sector Investment
and Planning and Budgeting – Vision 2005-2025 outlining short, – planning function limited to the PSIP Strategy Committee presents to
budgeting 2020 proposes to introduce medium and long term objectives compilation of individual cabinet a prioritized, costed
strategic planning in budgeting introduced – (no data with ministries’ programmes package of policies, programmes
process respect to the link with the and capital projects.
budget) Prioritization Committee
evaluates sector proposals and
presents the Prioritization
Committee with ranked package
of proposals
Re-training Currently, re-training of officers The introduction of a Tax No data Training of officials with No data
of public in tax administration Administration and Expenditure responsibility of oversight from
officers Management Project which aims the PCMS computer system and
to strengthen the three revenue line ministries
collecting departments in fiscal
administration and improve
public expenditure management
(1993)

Sources: Taken from: Jamaica Industrial Policy 1996-2010; Guyana Public Service Review, World Bank Country Study, 1993; development Effectiveness and Management for results the case of
Trinidad and Tobago presented by Anthony Bartholomew, May 2006; development Effectiveness and Management results, Belize – May 2006; development Effectiveness and Managing for
Results, Barbados
Planning

monitoring
budgeting and

33

Table IV.
 IJPSM participatory devices, evaluation and auditing technologies and re-training were, of
23,1 course, instruments which had been introduced as well in many of the developed
countries. As Table IV indicates, though, these instruments were introduced selectively
in many countries. While, no doubt, there have been significant successes in introducing
aspects of planning budgeting and monitoring reforms in some countries such as
Jamaica, there are a number of domestic and international challenges which have to a
34 large extent proved to be obstacles in countries’ attempts to actually manage for results.
Indeed, as Table IV also illustrates a number of countries have also retained the
system of line item budgeting even though countries like the USA, the UK, Australia,
Canada and New Zealand have all adopted performance planning and budgeting
systems. The problem is that while all governments will agree on a political
platform that their country will be moving in a “strategic direction” and that managing
for results will be one of their primary goals, as some writers have argued, two
fundamental factors in the budgetary process tend to work in favor of incremental
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outcomes and the retention of line item budgeting (Peters, 1984). The first is the sheer
magnitude of the process. The typical public budget involves making decisions that
allocate almost half of the total goods and services in the economy. In addition, as
Peters (1984) pointed out, the decision to spend all the money must be made in a
relatively short period of time under substantial political pressure.
Peters, however, was alluding to a problem that assumes even more complexity in
plural societies such as Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago but is particularly
so in the case of the countries of Guyana and Trinidad. In these countries, because
Government and Opposition, respectively, correspond with the ethnic structure of the
country, there is very little consensus between the ethnically polarized Governing
and Opposition parties. Thus, to a large extent, the budgets and the allocation of
resources sometimes may influence electoral outcomes in these countries. Strategic and
long-term planning therefore may remain as a visionary goal rather than translate into
actual practice.
The second feature of the budgetary process that helps to produce incremental
solutions is often the sequential and repetitive nature of budgeting. Line item budgeting
often reinforces this kind of incrementalism and because the actors involved in the
process tend to retain their positions for a long time there is often an accommodation
between them. There is also the understanding that ministerial portfolios depend on
proximity to the Prime Minister. Thus, favored ministers will more often than not
be generously accommodated when funds are allocated. Bureaucrats wishing to make
significant departures from existing patterns also have several strong incentives to be
cautious since even top public officers could be transferred or requested to proceed
on immediate leave. In addition, in many countries, politicians are often wary in
introducing new changes that will have long-term benefits since electoral terms vary
between four and five years. The outcome of new introductions and the expenditure of
vast amounts of cash on projects that do not bear fruit within the electoral term will often
take second place to projects that will bring immediate attention to the governing party.
Apart from the political dimension, however, another major constraint
is organizational in nature. Governments throughout the Caribbean have made
incremental adjustments to their laws and regulations and in the event changes were
necessary, merely amended or modified the existing legislation or simply introduced an
additional piece of legislation. This has led to authorities and responsibilities which are
 often fragmented and divided among numerous actors. The ad hoc introduction of Planning
legislation has also promoted an environment where, because there is ambiguity in the budgeting and
definition of roles and functions, it is difficult to ensure strict standards of
accountability. monitoring
In many cases also there is often a parallel bureaucracy where responsibilities and
tasks are duplicated. Even where there is no duplication or overlapping, though, there is
often a lack of communication within and between ministries and departments with 35
the result that one department does not have an idea as to their colleagues are doing
in other departments. Fragmentation of bureaucracies along with the lack of the
organizational capacity to carry out set tasks is, therefore, a characteristic feature of
public bureaucracies across the Caribbean and a major obstacle for reformers. A more
depressing aspect of organizational incapacity, though, is the lack of authority to carry
out responsibilities assigned. For example, while the auditor general has the power of
oversight and scrutiny this department does not have the power of sanction.
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Perhaps, the greatest challenge in introducing budgetary reforms, though, is the

relationship and vulnerability of the Caribbean territories in relation to more powerful
countries such as the USA, the UK and more recently the Asian, Indian and European
blocs. It is difficult to plan and forecast when fortunes depend not only the natural
weather patterns but also on fluctuations in the price of oil, shifting trade embargoes
and even the fluctuations in the American dollar.

Conclusion: the way forward

This paper looked at institutional planning budgeting, monitoring and evaluation
during three critical periods in the history of the Caribbean territories namely
pre-1960s, post independence and more recently under NPM. What emerged in this
paper is that to a large extent there has been some attempt to move away from the
classical budgetary approach to what is referred to NPFM. The paper argued, though,
that while the six pre-disposing factors for introducing a successful NPFM system has
been attempted in varying degrees in all five countries, it will be difficult for these
countries to mange for results since there are a number of challenges, political,
organizational as well as environmental.
The implications of not introducing a planning budgeting, monitoring and evaluation
system in keeping with the NPFM initiative, however, will be far-reaching. Indeed, it can
be argued, that the introduction of a strategic plan closely linked to the budget will
eliminate many of the problems currently experienced in plural societies such as
Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Not only would planning budgeting of this nature
eliminate the criticisms of patronage that have emerged in these countries, but also
engaging in a dialogue with actors in the society will bring about a certain degree of
confidence and trust in the system as evidenced in countries such as Jamaica and
Barbados. Apart from the broader goal of involving the society in policy making,
however, it is evident that a system of planning budgeting and the controls that
accompany these systems will prevent wastage of resources during windfalls and
ensure control of funds during more stringent periods – a cycle which has been
experienced overtime in the Caribbean. There is no doubt that introducing such
planning budgeting, monitoring and evaluation systems will pose serious challenges for
small states, however, in the long run it can be argued that it may be the only tool that
may allow small countries to achieve their developmental objectives.
 IJPSM Notes
23,1 1. In addition, there was a system of external control by the Auditor General who did not report
to the governor but rather reported directly to the Secretary of State with responsibility
for those colonies.
2. Chan quotes from a report from the British Treasury. According to his illustration accrual
accounting requires recognition of revenue only after delivery of goods and services and
36 expenses – costs of resources used and debts incurred – are matched against the revenue to
arrive at a period’s income. Accrual accounting also refers to the recognition and reporting of
various rights (assets) and obligations (liabilities) (104).
3. Hood et al. (1999) have advanced addressed this issue as well. For a more comprehensive
account of the structure of Colonial Administration refer to my book (Bissessar, 2001).
4. During this period, many countries experienced accelerated growth.
5. Jamaica and Guyana also introduced five-year plans with similar objectives as well.
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6. Later on this policy led to strong criticism and in the case of Trinidad and Tobago was one
of the arguments raised during the Black Power revolution of 1970 in which it was argued
that the islands had merely shifted leaders but still remained tied to colonial powers.
7. These fears, of course, were unfounded.
8. See Guerre’s (1994) book for a more comprehensive account of structural adjustment. Also see
his book Guerre (2000).
9. See lecture by Davies, Minister of Finance and Planning, Jamaica (Davies, 2000).
10. This term was coned by Olsen et al. (1998)
11. I found Chan’s extremely useful in formulating the section under NPM.

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Corresponding author
Ann Marie Bissessar can be contacted at: annmarie.bissessar@sta.uwi.edu

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