Ascension : New Financial Secretary
Submitted by The Islander (Public Relations Information Office) 07.01.2010 (Article Archived on 21.01.2010)

Paul Blessington, Government Economist, has been selected for the post of Financial Secretary within the St Helena Government.

New Financial Secretary

Paul Blessington, Government Economist, has been selected for the post of Financial Secretary within the St Helena Government. He was one of 62 people expressing an interest in the post and will take up this appointment very shortly.

In his new role, Paul will have overall responsibility for financial management within the St Helena Government. He will become a member of the Executive and Legislative Council and will take the lead in advising SHG on financial matters during his three year contract.

Paul has a background in accounting and economics and started working with the St Helena Government in January 2009 as the Government Economist. In this role, he gave economic policy advice and concentrated closely on economic planning and forecasting. Throughout this period he became involved in various government related projects including the Public Sector Modernisation Programme.

Prior to working on St Helena, Paul worked in both the public and private sectors as Director of Financial Management, Treasury Officer, Petroleum Economist, Management Accountant and Financial Consultant.

In addition, he was an adjunct fellow in the Economics Faculty at the Australian National University where he worked as a part time lecturer on public sector financial management.

Paul is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants with a Masters Degree in Economics and Accounting. Originally from the UK, Paul spent a number of years in Australia before coming to the Island.

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Office of the Chief Secretary

22 December 2009