Above: Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica has received $9.46 million USD in budgetary support from the European Union.

The funding, which is being provided through a grant agreement, will help in the “implementation of various development programmes,” according to a government statement.

The agreement was finalized during a ceremony at the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday in Kingston.

Jamaica Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips said the deal represented the “reconsolidation of the relationship between the EU and Jamaica.” He said it was consequent on Jamaica’s having concluded its agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

Not having an IMF agreement since 2011 had “interrupted the flow of budgetary support resources to the government and people of Jamaica,” he said.

“This ceremony, in a sense, symbolizes the restart of those flows,” he said. “We are very cognizant that we need to continue our performance in all aspects of the programme, and particularly, in relation to the strengthening of our financial management capabilities within the government of Jamaica as a whole in order to facilitate these funds.”