NEW FINANCE MINISTER HEADS TO WASHINGTON

Following on the satisfactory conclusion of the third review of the Stand-By Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), newly appointed Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Honourable Dr. Nigel Clarke, is leading a delegation to the 2018 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group (WB) in Washington DC.

Other members of the delegation are Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Honourable Fayval Williams, Ms Darlene Morrison, Acting Financial Secretary, Mr Brian Wynter, Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Dr. Wayne Henry, Director General of Planning Institute of Jamaica, and Mrs. Hillary Robertson, Senior Technical Advisor to the Minister of Finance and the Public Service.

Minister Clarke and his technical team are expected to hold high-level meetings in respect to Jamaica’s economic programme with the management of the IMF and the WB Group, as well as with H.E. Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Meetings have also been scheduled with senior officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The Executive Board of the IMF noted at the conclusion of the third review that Jamaica’s “Program implementation remains strong 5 years into the authorities’ economic reforms with public debt firmly on a downward trajectory”. Meanwhile, Managing Director of the IMF, Ms Christine Lagarde has reaffirmed her personal endorsement of the economic programme during her working visit to Jamaica late last year.