The United States of America has joined the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre as its seventh donor member, and subsequently handed over a contribution of $4.07 million.

The announcement in Suva yesterday followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States of America and the International Monetary Fund.

The US has signed on in the fifth phase of the PFTAC (PFTAC) operations.

Increasing Participation
US charge de affairs, Tony Greubel, said the US was increasing its contributions to the South Pacific, and was looking at specific areas toward which it would work towards.

“This US$2 million is just part of the United States’ increasing contributions to the South Pacific,” he said.

The US joins other members and donors in supporting the key regional entity in working towards the promotion of macro-economic stability and development of its Pacific islands members.

Reserve Bank of Fiji deputy governor, Esala Masitabua, said the significance of the occasion was underpinned by the role the centre played in capacity building.

The US had revealed in 2020 its plans to commit over $200 million in new programmes under the Pacific Pledge, through the US Indo-Pacific Strategy.

PFTA Fijis Deputy Governor RBF Esala Masitabua.

10 per cent
PFTAC’s work to enhance debt transparency and sustainability and to help Pacific nations avoid debt distress was imperative, the US embassy said.

The centre was established in 1993 to promote macro financial stability in Pacific island countries through a focused programme of technical assistance centres.

Centre coordinator, David Kloeden, said PFTAC was the first of the International Monetary Fund’s regional technical assistance centres, aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of Pacific countries.

“This is the first phase in which the member countries agreed to voluntarily contribute to the tune of 10 per cent of the budget,” he said.

The centre designs and implement sounds maco-economic and financial policies.

PFTAC provides assistance to 16 Pacific island countries, including Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands.

Other member countries are Palau, Nauru, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Niue, Tokelau, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.

The centre’s operations are funded by the European Union, Asian Development Bank, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Korea and now the United States of America.

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