IMF opens Training and Technical Assistance Centre for Economic Capacity Building in South Asia

• SARTTAC is a collaborative venture between the IMF, the member countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka), and development partners
• SARTTAC will allow the IMF to meet more of the high demand for technical assistance and training from the region

 The IMF’s South Asia Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) was officially inaugurated by Secretary Shaktikanta Das of India’s Ministry of Finance in New Delhi on 13 February. 

Deputy Managing Director Carla Grasso and senior officials from the centre’s six South Asian member countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and development partners attended the event. Less than a year after IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a capacity development center for South Asia, the opening of SARTTAC marks a major milestone in the partnership between the IMF and its member countries in the region.

SARTTAC is a collaborative venture between the IMF, the member countries, and development partners. The centre’s strategic goal is to help its member countries strengthen their institutional and human capacity to design and implement macroeconomic and financial policies that promote growth and reduce poverty.

South Asia is a rapidly growing region that is home to one fifth of the world’s population. SARTTAC will allow the IMF to meet more of the high demand for technical assistance and training from the region. Through its team of international resident experts, SARTTAC is expected to become the focal point for the delivery of IMF capacity development services to South Asia.

SARTTAC, the newest addition to the IMF’s global network of fourteen regional centres, is a new kind of capacity development institution, fully integrating customized hands-on training with targeted technical advice in a range of macroeconomic and financial areas, and generating synergies between the two. SARTTAC is located in world class facilities in New Delhi and is financed mainly by its six member countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka — with additional support from Australia, the Republic of Korea, the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Deputy Managing Director Grasso made the following statement: “I am very appreciative of the strong partnerships and determined efforts of so many that have paved the way for SARTTAC’s opening. I am confident that the centre will make a very strong contribution to capacity building in South Asia, which is so important for sustainable economic development, growth, and stability.”

Secretary Shaktikanta Das said: “SARTTAC is a pioneering initiative of the Government of India and the IMF. This is the IMF’s first fully integrated capacity development center, which brings together under one roof the two building blocks of capacity development — training and technical assistance. I am sure the center will build on this unique advantage, and over time will evolve as a model for others to emulate.”