World Bank Pledges Continued Budget Support to Seychelles
VICTORIA, Seychelles, The World Bank will continue to give budget support to Seychelles as well as support the country’s reform programme that leads to higher growth including support in reducing climate change vulnerability and intervention in risk factors affecting the youths. The statement was made to the media by the World Bank country director, Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, following a courtesy call on President Wavel Ramkalawan yesterday morning at State House. The meeting formed part of a series of high-level engagements between the government and its development partners.
Ms Pswarayi-Riddihough, who is leading a five-member delegation, is in the country for the continuation in the preparation of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) in support of the government’s current and future economic programmes. The CPF’s goals by the bank are to end extreme poverty and increase shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. The new framework is expected to guide the bank’s engagement with Seychelles over the next several years.
The bank’s country director said that discussion with President Ramkalawan was also on the Climate Change Development Report to see how to assist in reducing Seychelles’ vulnerability to climate change. She stated that with youths facing many risks factors that are hindering their future, the bank will also be discussing and working closely with government and other partners to better understand what needs to be done to assist them to become productive members of society. The bank noted that youth unemployment and skills mismatches remain key challenges.
One of the things that we will continue to do as the World Bank is to continue to give budget support to Seychelles. We have been supporting Seychelles in budget support, we have finished the third series in December and we are starting the first one, Ms Pswarayi-Riddihough said. She added that discussions also touched on bank assistance to the country’s tourism sector to gain more earnings especially from the niche market, with the inclusion of the general population. They also discussed ways to link agriculture to tourism in order to generate revenue.
Renewable energy is another area we are also looking at to make sure that Seychelles becomes less vulnerable to the idea of continually buying diesel outside and when the market changes that becomes an issue. So can we do more? Are there other opportunities? These are still very broad but we hope that these are the areas that actually become much more solid as we go further with the preparation, Ms Pswarayi-Riddihough said. The World Bank country director also shared that the bank has been offered a room in a government ministry building to open an office and is in the final stages of formalising it with a memorandum of understanding. Also present in the presidential delegation to welcome Ms Pswarayi-Riddihough and her delegation to State House were the Minister for Finance, National Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, and the Governor of Central Bank of Seychelles, Caroline Abel.
