Dear Editor,
Dr Peter Phillips' tenure as Jamaica's minister of finance has come under very harsh criticism from the Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness and his spokesperson on finance Audley Shaw. Both have declared that the accomplishments gained by Minister Phillips are inconsequential, at best.
But as a young, well-thinking Jamaican voter, I decided to compare the achievements of both administrations since 2007 until present, and these were the facts I uncovered.
Under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration of 2007-2011, with Audley Shaw at the helm of the Ministry of Finance, Jamaica accomplished: Failures to adhere to terms that were agreed with our international partners who gave the country US$ 2.4 billion as part of Standby Agreement to complete a tax reform plans, to establish a central treasury management system and to pass legislations giving effect to pension reform and public debt management.
These commitments were not honoured and, as a result, the Standby Agreement was abandoned. This led to an erosion of trust between the Government and our international partners which ended all multilateral borrowing ceased. The end result of this was that under the JLP Government the country's debt grew by $714 billion, a whopping 68 per cent increase ,and the country experienced 11 consecutive quarters of negative growth.
However, Dr Peter Phillips' tenure was something different. Under his reign as minister of finance Jamaica has successfully passed 10 consecutive International Monetary Fund (IMF) tests, and because of that the IMF has agreed to lower the stringent primary surplus target from 7.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product to 7.25 per cent for the remainder of the current fiscal year, freeing up $4 billion to be spent on capital investments. Our massive debt has decrease by over 20 per cent of the debt-to-GDP ratio. The country's inflation has decreased to the lowest levels in 48 years.
Jamaica is now ranked best in the Caribbean to do business and our Net International Reserves (NIR) have increased to $2.4 billion. It is also very clear that the current minister of finance has improved our relationship with our international partners, because the EU has seen it fit to once again give Jamaica grant funding worth some $2.3 billion to support debt reduction, growth enhancement, and poverty reduction.
Based on these indisputable facts, it is hard to believe how Audley Shaw can stand up on a national platform and criticise Dr Peter Phillips' tenure and simultaneously sell himself as a suitable alternative. I think Andrew Holness needs a new 'man-a-yaad'.
Steve Collins
steveyc312@gmail.com
Holness needs a new 'man-a-yard'
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Dr Peter Phillips' tenure as Jamaica's minister of finance has come under very harsh criticism from the Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness and his spokesperson on finance Audley Shaw. Both have declared that the accomplishments gained by Minister Phillips are inconsequential, at best.
But as a young, well-thinking Jamaican voter, I decided to compare the achievements of both administrations since 2007 until present, and these were the facts I uncovered.
Under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Administration of 2007-2011, with Audley Shaw at the helm of the Ministry of Finance, Jamaica accomplished: Failures to adhere to terms that were agreed with our international partners who gave the country US$ 2.4 billion as part of Standby Agreement to complete a tax reform plans, to establish a central treasury management system and to pass legislations giving effect to pension reform and public debt management.
These commitments were not honoured and, as a result, the Standby Agreement was abandoned. This led to an erosion of trust between the Government and our international partners which ended all multilateral borrowing ceased. The end result of this was that under the JLP Government the country's debt grew by $714 billion, a whopping 68 per cent increase ,and the country experienced 11 consecutive quarters of negative growth.
However, Dr Peter Phillips' tenure was something different. Under his reign as minister of finance Jamaica has successfully passed 10 consecutive International Monetary Fund (IMF) tests, and because of that the IMF has agreed to lower the stringent primary surplus target from 7.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product to 7.25 per cent for the remainder of the current fiscal year, freeing up $4 billion to be spent on capital investments. Our massive debt has decrease by over 20 per cent of the debt-to-GDP ratio. The country's inflation has decreased to the lowest levels in 48 years.
Jamaica is now ranked best in the Caribbean to do business and our Net International Reserves (NIR) have increased to $2.4 billion. It is also very clear that the current minister of finance has improved our relationship with our international partners, because the EU has seen it fit to once again give Jamaica grant funding worth some $2.3 billion to support debt reduction, growth enhancement, and poverty reduction.
Based on these indisputable facts, it is hard to believe how Audley Shaw can stand up on a national platform and criticise Dr Peter Phillips' tenure and simultaneously sell himself as a suitable alternative. I think Andrew Holness needs a new 'man-a-yaad'.
Steve Collins
steveyc312@gmail.com
Holness needs a new 'man-a-yard'
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