Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, says Jamaica’s economy is recovering from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at a rate that is surpassing other countries in the region.
He noted that the country’s recovery is evidenced by the growth of the economy by 5.8 per cent in the July to September quarter, 2021, as reported by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).
“This exceeds the pace of recovery in our peer group countries in the Caribbean and peer group countries elsewhere,” the Minister said while contributing to the debate on the Second Supplementary Estimates for the 2021/22 fiscal year during a special sitting of the House of Representatives on Thursday (Jan. 14).
Dr Clarke noted that while the country has not yet recovered to pre-COVID levels of economic output “the pace and momentum of the economic recovery so far, is very encouraging and suggests that the economy will attain pre-COVID levels of output in real terms in the not too distant future”.
He stressed that economic growth should be of importance to every Jamaican especially this financial year, which “more than any other year, demonstrates quite graphically what economic growth means for Jamaicans,” as it has enabled the government to increase the budget in order to provide more support for Jamaicans.
“In this year alone, economic growth above forecasts has delivered over $60 billion of resources beyond what we started the year with that has been used to provide for the Jamaican people.
“It is economic growth that has provided the resources with which we’ve been able to respond decisively to the Ministry of Health’s needs for the fiscal support to manage the pandemic and it is economic growth that has provided the resources to which we’ve been able to increase and broaden the Social and Economic Recovery and Vaccine (SERVE) Jamaica Programme providing assistance to vulnerable Jamaicans,” he added.
In the meantime, Dr. Clarke pointed out that the level of economic growth projected for this fiscal year of between six per cent and 10 per cent, will moderate next year “and so this kind of budgetary expansion should not be expected as the norm.
“However, we expect growth to continue and… we have demonstrated this year in no uncertain terms that economic growth matters for every single Jamaican,” he said.
Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Planning and the Public Service Julian Robinson, in his contribution, said all Jamaicans should be happy “and acknowledge the level of growth that we’ve had in the economy over this year.”
He suggested that as the country seeks to recover fully from COVID-19, measures that can be put in place to further grow the economy, including an increased emphasis on the export sector with particular focus on manufacturing and agriculture.
