‘Stop confusing the public with talk of faster recovery’, Thame tells Gov’t senators

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Senator Dr Maziki Thame told her Government counterparts on Friday to “stop confusing the public with this idea that we’re recovering faster than expected”.

Thame was responding to recent statements by Finance Minister Fayval Williams, who cited Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) data to suggest that the economy is recovering faster than projected following Hurricane Melissa. Williams told a recent post-Cabinet media briefing that the recovery is 18 months ahead of projection.

Thames made the comment on Friday during her contribution to the debate on the Environmental Protection Levy Bill in the Senate. While offering her “general support” for the bill —which was eventually passed after an embarrassing mix-up saw the wrong bill being tabled earlier in the debate— she said:“It seems to us that after months of delay, that the Government’s urgency on this bill speaks to the need to address Jamaica’s dire economic circumstances”.

She stated that the Opposition understands the value of taxes as no Government can operate without them. “What is not so clear is how the increase in the levy fits into the broader economic realities facing the nation...,” she said.

Thames said Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness was “not as optimistic as Government Senator Keith Duncan", who gave an upbeat assessment of the economy during his contribution.

“The prime minister tells us that it became clear after Minister Fayval Williams’ report to Cabinet that there are ‘headwinds ahead and that the Government may need to undertake counter-cyclical measures to support the economy,” she said. She explained that during an economic downturn, counter-cyclical measures include reduced interest rates, tax cuts and increased government spending to boost economies.

Thame also questioned the status of the resources the Government said it has secured from multilateral partners for rebuilding in the aftermath of the hurricane, through the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).

“What has happened to the US$6.7 billion financing package Senator Dana Morris Dixon referred to as an ‘extraordinary achievement, as a testament to the fiscal credibility that Jamaica built over a decade',?” she asked.

Morris Dixon piloted the bill on Friday.

The Opposition senator further asked “What has happened to the case of CAF - the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean from which Jamaica was to gain up to US$1 billion in funding? She also questioned whether Jamaica has been upgraded from its class C status in order to be eligible for that sum. Thame also questioned what has happened to the private investment that the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank said they were "working to attract".