Posted by Udaya Pant[1]
The South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTAC) was inaugurated on February 13th, 2017 by the Secretary of Economic Affairs of the Government of India, Shaktikanta Das, at its first class facilities in New Delhi. Representatives of all six SARTTAC member countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka) attended as did six development partners, four of whom are contributing to SARTTAC (Australia, DFID, the EU, and Korea). A delegation of senior IMF staff was led by Deputy Managing Director Carla Grasso, and included the Directors of the Asia and Pacific Department and the Institute for Capacity Development, as well as representatives of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD).
Both member countries and development partners commended the IMF for setting up SARTTAC within eleven months of the signing of the agreement between Minister of Finance Jaitley and the IMF’s Managing Director, Christine Lagarde. The collective efforts of several IMF departments and SARTTAC staff were recognised as were those of counterparts within India’s Finance Ministry. Expectations over SARTTAC are very high from all stakeholders, notably with regard to its unique design in combining technical assistance and training under one roof. Member countries in particular stressed the demand-driven design of SARTTAC programmes and the need for flexible and swift responsiveness. In sum, SARTTAC was envisioned to become a center of excellence, blending capacity building, knowledge sharing and policy advice.
