Finance Minister Fayal Williams
Executive Director of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA), Kamesha Turner Blake, says, while former finance minister Dr. Nigel Clarke focused on debt reduction, the new finance minister, Fayval Williams, must focus on driving production and export-led growth.
She also stressed that in this regard the minister must provide more incentives to the manufacturing and export sectors in order to stem the six consecutive months slide in exports.
Total merchandise exports tumbled by 8.4 per cent to US$944.8 million during the first six months of this year.
Meanwhile, the contribution of the manufacturing sector fell from over 20 per cent of GDP and 160,000 jobs during the 1980s to only 10% of GDP and just over 60,000 jobs last year due to the adverse economic conditions and the lack of incentives from successive governments.
Ms. Blake says the new finance minister must focus more on providing incentives, including affordable financing for the manufacturing sector because many local manufacturers are considering relocating to Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.
Finance Minister Fayval Williams has said she understands that she will have to focus more on growth now, given the flat-lining of the economy during the first two quarters of this year.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) have also projected declines.
According to Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), the country's rate of economic recovery dipped to 1.4 per cent during the first quarter and then to 0.2 percentage points during the second quarter.
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