New Finance Minister expected to focus on spurring economic growth

By Prince Moore    

 

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) believes the first order of business for new Finance Minister Fayval Williams should be to stimulate economic growth.

 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Wednesday announced that Mrs. Williams has replaced Dr. Nigel Clarke.

 

Minister Williams is the first woman to serve in the position.

 

PSOJ President Metry Seaga says Mrs. Williams should continue to pursue fiscal responsibility while encouraging growth. 

 

"I think Minister Williams has the capabilities, as the Prime Minister said. I think she has the experience. Now we just hope that she puts that experience and that knowledge to use and that the fiscal responsibility that has been shown by the Minister of Finance over the last nine years continues. But the change that we hope to see is that there is some effort put in to growth in the economy."

 

"I think that whilst the country has done very well and we have built up reserves and we have done all the hard things, people need to feel it now, and that is going to come from growth in the economy," Mr. Seaga stressed. 

 

He was speaking Wednesday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

Wayne Chen, President of the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF), also suggested that Mrs. Williams has a mammoth task of transitioning the country from low to rapid growth.

 

He said the new Finance Minister will need to ensure she refrains from what he terms a "run with it" approach to the economy leading up to the general election due next year. 

 

"Because Ministers of Finance have a very tough job, not just to convince the public around things that sound nebulous like macroeconomic stability and reducing the debt, but also convincing their own colleagues of the necessity to be prudent because you know her colleagues are going to be at her to loosen up the tap a bit, to run with it a little bit, especially in a year running up to an election, and it is key that she does not lose the hard fought gains that we have sacrificed for over the last decade," he cautioned. 

 

As the country transitions to a growth approach, Mr. Chen proposed that there will need to be greater focus on the drivers of producitivity, including a more efficient public sector, digital transformation and education reform. 

 

He was also a guest on Beyond the Headlines.