{"id":160569,"date":"2022-10-08T12:16:21","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T16:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=160569"},"modified":"2022-10-08T12:16:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T16:16:21","slug":"imf-tells-antigua-government-to-prioritize-spending-on-the-vulnerable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/imf-tells-antigua-government-to-prioritize-spending-on-the-vulnerable\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF tells Antigua government to prioritize spending on the vulnerable"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The government should continue to prioritize spending on social safety nets to protect the vulnerable against rising living costs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

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The authorities should expedite efforts to centralize and digitize information and payment systems for social transfer programs, to improve their coverage and targeting.<\/p>\n

Coordination amongst government agencies implementing social transfer programs should be enhanced, in line with the objectives of the Social Protection Act.<\/p>

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A comprehensive social safety net program, including cash transfers to lower-income households, could then be used to replace the temporary gas voucher program, which needs to be monitored to avoid abuses.<\/p>

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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Mr. Varapat Chensavasdijai, visited St. John\u2019s during September 20-October 3, 2022, to hold the 2022 Article IV consultation. At the conclusion of the mission, Mr. Chensavasdijai issued the following statement.<\/p>\n

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The government should continue to prioritize spending on social safety nets to protect the vulnerable against rising living costs.\u00a0 The authorities should expedite efforts to centralize and digitize information and payment systems for social transfer programs, to improve their coverage and targeting. Coordination amongst government agencies implementing social transfer programs should be enhanced, in line […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nIMF tells Antigua government to prioritize spending on the vulnerable - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/imf-tells-antigua-government-to-prioritize-spending-on-the-vulnerable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IMF tells Antigua government to prioritize spending on the vulnerable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government should continue to prioritize spending on social safety nets to protect the vulnerable against rising living costs.\u00a0 The authorities should expedite efforts to centralize and digitize information and payment systems for social transfer programs, to improve their coverage and targeting. 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