Why a millionaire refuses to invest in Jamaica

For many years I have been trying to get a friend of mine with unlimited financial assets to invest in Jamaica, with a particular focus on the eastern parishes of the island — St Mary, Portland, and St Thomas.

He, of a European-american background, loves Jamaica endlessly and vacations here whenever time allows him, usually after he agrees on another elaborate business deal. But he will not budge when suggestions are made for him to get involved in the economy.

On one occasion I said to him, ‘Look, crime is everywhere and as a visitor to Jamaica and ultimate investor all you have to do is be cautious in what you do as you go about your business.’ His answer shocked the hell out of me: ‘It is not about crime in Jamaica. It is the uncertainty surrounding your currency, the Jamaica dollar.’ Wow!

He went on to say that it would be difficult to run a company in Jamaica when there are so many fluctuations in the value of the Jamaica dollar, mostly devaluation than revaluation, and based upon what he thought would work in Jamaica, he felt that it would not make sense to invest here.

Now, how many potential investors are there who think like that? The management of the Jamaica dollar against the US dollar has been appalling.

Last week the president of the Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association Lynvale Hamilton, said on that sales of used cars dipped by 60 per cent

Radio Jamaica, in the first quarter of this year, due to the shift in value of the Jamaica dollar. That’s only one of the countless issues that affect this country when the dollar devalues.

What’s noticeable is that there is none of the usual bragging by the minister of finance and the public service, who goes to town when there are ‘positives’ in the Jamaican economy. Had the dollar been revalued to, say, 130 to one, you would have seen Dr Nigel Clarke jump up in Parliament and boast about management of the economy. Now, not even a simple explanation is forthcoming. Why? Because the policymakers do not have a clue about financial management of the economy.

They will tell you that it is because of the downturn in tourism, in particular, that has caused the Jamaica dollar to reach the record disastrous level that it has plunged to, and that demand has outrun supply. But why has the US dollar remained firm in other territories that depend heavily on tourism for sustenance and survival? How come in The Bahamas, Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean states, and even Trinidad & Tobago, their currencies have not suffered the massive battering that the Jamaica dollar has had to endure?

People are suffering from the effects of the sliding Jamaica dollar. If you visit the supermarket this week with $10,000 and buy a certain number of products, a week later that same amount will give you far less of the same items that you go to buy.

What all of this tells me is that you don’t need a scholar to manage an economy. You need someone who is level-headed, understands how the underground economy and the formal economy work, and can appeal to those causing this rush on the US dollar in a time of this pandemic to back off, in pretty much the same way that Eddie Seaga did during the 1980s.

Is it far-fetched to revisit the prospect of fixing the value of the dollar, even if there is an eruption on the black market?

Well, listen out for it. You will hear that I don’t know a damn thing about the economy, so I should shut up. But that’s not going to work. Until it is clear that the policymakers know what they are doing, then the shouts must continue.