A powerful new tool is being rolled out in Barbados that will help modernise the way public debt is managed, through advanced functionalities and state-of-the-art technology.
A powerful new tool is being rolled out in Barbados that will help modernise the way public debt is managed, through advanced functionalities and state-of-the-art technology.
Debt management experts of the Commonwealth are on the ground in the capital city Bridgetown to train country staff in the use of the Commonwealth Meridian software. The software is designed to support a modern debt management office, while catering for the transformation of the public debt arena.
“This a huge and significant milestone for the Meridian project,” said the Commonwealth’s Debt Systems Development Officer, Joanne Allin, who is heading the mission from 7 - 17 May. “The team is very excited to finally deploy Meridian in a country like Barbados so it can start benefitting from a modern debt management system that facilitates more effective and proactive management of its debt portfolio.”
Meridian places strong emphasis on a country’s debt management strategy, as well as the growing importance of the management of contingent liabilities (debts that may occur depending on the outcome of uncertain future events), reporting standards and the need for improved transparency.
Developed over a three-year period, the programme was trialled in India last year by debt managers from across the Commonwealth, ahead of its launch slated for the first quarter of 2019.
The pilot implementation will verify that Meridian can operate successfully with existing country systems/infrastructure and support debt management processes using actual data migrated from the current Commonwealth debt management system CS-DRMS.
The pilot will also verify whether the approach, schedule and resources defined within the implementation plan are adequate for efficiently deploying Meridian to member states. In addition to Barbados, the pilot implementation will be undertaken in other Commonwealth countries to ensure that the Meridian is ready for deployment.
To find out more information about Meridian, please visit the debt programme page on this website.
