Financial Analyst Dennis Chung says Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke should feel vindicated in maintaining his position on having debt reduction as a priority for the government instead of spending on social relief.
During his budget presentation, Dr. Clarke announced that the government projected to bring public debt to below 60 per cent of GDP by March 2027, a year earlier than the target in the fiscal rules.
The parliamentary opposition had criticized the decision, stating that the money could be better channeled to provide relief to Jamaicans.
In a recent report from the International Monetary Fund, Jamaica, along with two other countries, was praised for the reduction of the national debt.
Mr. Chung says countries that opted to spend on social relief while not increasing their productivity are feeling the negative effects of that decision.
He says the United States is among those countries that spent heavily on social welfare when productivity dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now seeing the consequences of that action:
All feeds
