Revenues remain on track despite COVID-19 says finance minister
Minister of Finance Dr nigel Clarke has said that despite the continued impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on economic growth, revenues for the country have so far remained on track.
“Revenues to date have been on track, which is good news for us as many countries at this time are scrambling to finance their budgets for this year,” he stated.
The minister, who was providing an economic update at a press conference held yesterday, said that while all forecasting bodies have predicted economic growth to not return until at least the next fiscal year and with an important sector such as services still severely impacted, the Government has been carefully maintaining fiscal discipline while still advancing some policy objectives.
He said that with the country having judiciously monitored economic activity prior to the pandemic, the cumulative cash resources set aside to accelerate debt payment over the medium term was what provided Government with the needed resources to have a quick policy response in the face of declining revenues.
Clarke said that despite the fact that the country continues to navigate one of the worst economic crisis seen in decades, it is commendable that the country is still able to make economic plans and cites some major developments to watch over the medium term, chief among which were: a public investment map recently launched to provide the public with a transparent window into the Government’s capital programme; the passing of legislation to modernise the central bank inclusive of providing the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) independence with respect to the implementation of monetary policy and the tabling of legislation to establish an independent fiscal commission.
“In the middle of the pandemic, Jamaica is strengthening and building institutions that exists nowhere else in the Caribbean. Jamaica will be the first Caricom country to have an independent central bank and one of the first to have an independent fiscal commission and also the first to have a public investment map available to all citizens,” the minister said.
“It is symbolic that though there is a pandemic and these are not normal times the Government is proceeding with its pre-pandemic plans to strengthen and build institutions to ensure that we all recover stronger,” he added.
The minister further underscored the recently maintained B+ rating of the economy by Standards and Poor (S&P) global as a sign of confidence by the entity in the country’s economy.
“It’s also a sign that good policy pays good dividends.
“What we want to ensure however, is that the policies we pursue is such that in lean times, we have the policy flexibility to respond to economic downturns in a way that shortens those downturns, cushions the impact and returns [the country] to a path of expansion in the quickest possible time,” the minister said.