Robinson rips into Holness administration's stewardship of the economy

By Clinton McGregor    

 

The Parliamentary Opposition has continued its criticism of the Andrew Holness led administration's stewardship of the economy, arguing that the government is covering up the true state of the economic crisis.

 

In his contribution to the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon, Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson argued that over the last nine years, the country has witnessed the continuation of economic policies that have done little to lift Jamaica out of a low-wage, low-tech, low-productivity, and ultimately low-growth economic model.

 

He argued that the economy will remain stagnant and will not deliver a better quality of life for the majority of the Jamaican people.

 

But it was a comment from Mr. Robinson about the government's claims in relation to borrowing that caused Finance Minister Fayval Williams to rise to her feet on a point of order. 

 

"There's been this narrative that the government doesn't need to borrow money or has not borrowed money; that somehow the government is funding all its programmes from tax revenues. Well, let me just set the record straight, Mr. Speaker. For the upcoming fiscal year the government plans to borrow $158 billion to help finance the budget," said Mr. Robinson.   

 

Mrs. Williams stood on a point of order to challenge the assertion, accusing the opposition spokesman of misleading the House, and insisting that she had indicated in her budget presentation the debt that would be due in the upcoming fiscal year, how much of the budget the government expected to finance and how much would be provided for with the country's own resources. 

 

In the meantime, Mr. Robinson questioned a claim by the Finance Minister during her presentation Tuesday, that there has been a suggestion for the government to use the Net International Reserves to address current issues. 

 

The opposition spokesman argued that no such suggestion has been made, reasoning that the finance minister "created a strawman to knock it down".