Dear Editor,
I read in your paper recently that Jamaica's indebtedness is now $1.81 trillion.When did the total move up from 1.7 trillion dollars, and why?
My understanding is that the country has not been getting much, if any, money to borrow in recent times, but the massive devaluation from US$1=J$86.00 to US$1=J$99.45 has increased the country's indebtedness greatly.
So why do we continue to devalue our currency and in so doing further impoverish our people? How is this helping to improve anybody's quality of life?
Other than tourism, the country is producing very little for export so that it can earn foreign exchange. So how is the continued devaluation of our dollar helping the country? Our bauxite and alumina industry has fallen off very badly. This once vibrant industry is currently a shadow of itself, contributing very little to gross domestic product.
Recently there was jubilation in some circles that the country, in the not too distant future, will be getting loans to the tune of about US$2 billion from the IMF, the World Bank and the International Development Bank. Am I missing something here?
I am seing this loan as more debt on top of the $1.81 trillion that is already owed.This is going to further increase the already very high debt to GDP ratio.
When the funds are received from the international financial agencies, how are they going to be used? Are they going to be properly used to earn foreign exchange to pay back the loans and contribute to the development of the country?
As a Jamaican, I fervently believe that Jamaica must cut out most of its borrowing and try to live within its means. This wide-scale borrowing is the main reason the country has found itself in this perilous economic situation. If we can't afford highways now, let us leave them alone. If we can't afford convention centres now, let us leave them alone. If we can't afford cricket stadiums now, let us leave them alone.
All the above and more were built with borrowed funds. The ability to pay back for these expenditures is dim and almost non-existent.
We must stop the borrowing that does not contribute to profitable development for the Jamaican people. We must stop committing the Jamaican taxpayers to paying back all these massive loans without corresponding benefits.
Our leaders must lead in the interest of the Jamaican people so that in the very near future we will start getting our economics right and be a country to be emulated.
Roy Wilson
royhwilson876@gmail.com
Sad state of affairs
-->
I read in your paper recently that Jamaica's indebtedness is now $1.81 trillion.When did the total move up from 1.7 trillion dollars, and why?
My understanding is that the country has not been getting much, if any, money to borrow in recent times, but the massive devaluation from US$1=J$86.00 to US$1=J$99.45 has increased the country's indebtedness greatly.
So why do we continue to devalue our currency and in so doing further impoverish our people? How is this helping to improve anybody's quality of life?
Other than tourism, the country is producing very little for export so that it can earn foreign exchange. So how is the continued devaluation of our dollar helping the country? Our bauxite and alumina industry has fallen off very badly. This once vibrant industry is currently a shadow of itself, contributing very little to gross domestic product.
Recently there was jubilation in some circles that the country, in the not too distant future, will be getting loans to the tune of about US$2 billion from the IMF, the World Bank and the International Development Bank. Am I missing something here?
I am seing this loan as more debt on top of the $1.81 trillion that is already owed.This is going to further increase the already very high debt to GDP ratio.
When the funds are received from the international financial agencies, how are they going to be used? Are they going to be properly used to earn foreign exchange to pay back the loans and contribute to the development of the country?
As a Jamaican, I fervently believe that Jamaica must cut out most of its borrowing and try to live within its means. This wide-scale borrowing is the main reason the country has found itself in this perilous economic situation. If we can't afford highways now, let us leave them alone. If we can't afford convention centres now, let us leave them alone. If we can't afford cricket stadiums now, let us leave them alone.
All the above and more were built with borrowed funds. The ability to pay back for these expenditures is dim and almost non-existent.
We must stop the borrowing that does not contribute to profitable development for the Jamaican people. We must stop committing the Jamaican taxpayers to paying back all these massive loans without corresponding benefits.
Our leaders must lead in the interest of the Jamaican people so that in the very near future we will start getting our economics right and be a country to be emulated.
Roy Wilson
royhwilson876@gmail.com
Sad state of affairs
-->