OREANDA-NEWS. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a \$12 million loan to Uruguay for a program to help it boost the efficiency of budget resource management through better handling of information during the budget cycle.

In order to achieve this goal the plan calls for generating the information needed in all state agencies to support the drafting and execution of the budget, and its incorporation into decision-making processes on budgetary allotment and execution by government bodies and the Economy and Finance Ministry.

“It is a ‘seed’ program that will help improve information on institutional performance in terms of the rendering of services, and the expenditure needed to provide them,” said Roberto Fern?ndez, IDB project team leader.

The program will help improve the Economy and Finance Ministry’s ability to carry out its role in decision-making in drafting and managing the budget. It aims to do so with actions like developing and implementing manuals containing rules and standards for the presentation of information by state agencies, and creating a system that articulates information on economic and financial execution with the amount of services provided by state agencies, among other data.

Furthermore, the program will help provide more complete and integrated systems within the agencies that are selected to take part in the plan.

The \$12 million loan is over 25 years, with a five-and-a-half year grace period and an interest rate pegged to the LIBOR. The local contribution is \$3 million.