PM challenges critics of government's economic management

By Kimone Witter    

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness is challenging critics of the government's management of the economy.

 

In a video statement on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said Jamaica's economy is strong, resilient, and fiscally fit, highlighting the country's ability to withstand and recover from shocks while maintaining economic stability.

 

Dr. Holness also reflected on the country's progress in job creation, debt reduction, foreign exchange stability, and sustained economic growth.

 

He said these are key indicators of a robust and well-managed economy.

 

Pointing to the announcement by Agriculture Minister Floyd Green in Parliament on Tuesday, that after last year's weather events, the market is stabilising with clear signs of recovery, Dr. Holness said this is a prime example of proper planning. 

 

"The Minister of Agriculture announced that farmgate prices for some vegetables and produce were trending downwards. And this is barely six months after Hurricane Beryl and tropical storms and unprecedented rainfall ravaged the sector. Now, why are prices going down? This is because your government, through good management of the economy, planned for shocks. 

 

"We created a disaster fund - which we've never had before, never existed before - and this gave us the flexibility to allocate funds to agriculture, to support farmers to getting back into the field and increasing their production," he asserted. 

 

Despite admitting that "much more work still needs to be done in stabilising prices generally and food prices in particular", the Prime Minister insisted that "Jamaica today is different from Jamaica a decade ago". 

 

At a political meeting in North West St. Catherine on the weekend, Opposition Leader and People's National Party President Mark Golding argued that the ruling Jamaica Labour Party had undermined the country's economic gains, forcing trained Jamaicans to seek employment overseas.