By Garwin Davis
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Prime Minister, Andrew Holness says Jamaica’s economic outlook has taken a turn for the better. The country is no longer seen by investors as high risk; speaking at the recent opening of a new Courts furniture and appliance store in Drax Hall, St Ann. The country’s economic climate has become so stable that investors no longer have to worry about unfriendly and uncertain dynamics, where investments would be susceptible to market upheavals.
“The truth is that for several decades, Jamaica was viewed by investors as high risk. The risk perception may have been exaggerated at times; it was not unfounded in the context of a highly volatile inflation rate, interest rates and exchange rates, high unemployment and unpredictable tax loss,” the prime minister explained. “But when you look at the investment environment in Jamaica today, relative to the past, it has been completely transformed. Now we have stable inflation, interest rates and exchange rates move within the bubbles that are common to even developed countries. We have stability.”
Prime Minister Holness pointed out that the next phase of the government’s effort will be to ensure that the economy grows, noting, however, that to get there “we must have investments.” And, it should also be noted that investment by itself is only one component, as there are “some other components”, like efficiency, productivity and innovation.
“For that to happen, we must engage in deep institutional reforms. We must also embrace the use of technology, and we must invest in our human resources. It is a natural process, but that natural process can only happen if people feel safe to invest. We always seem to believe that people come to Jamaica to invest because they like Jamaica. There are 100 other destinations that they could go [but they decide to come here],” Prime Minister Holness noted. “When investors like Unicomer (Courts parent body) come here and put down their money, it’s because Jamaica is the only country in the Caribbean that has a free-floating exchange rate. Investors are here because they don’t have to worry about unpredictable tax policies. For the last nine budgets there have been no new taxes.”
The prime minister said that all economic indicators are telling investors that if they need a place to pump their investments in, then it would be unwise to look any further than Jamaica, noting that “this is the perfect place”.
“Yes, we still have a lot of people who are poor. We cannot ignore the bad roads that people complain about every day. We cannot ignore the challenges with water. I have been confronted in communities by people who are complaining that they have been without water for decades…and are obviously and [justifiably} frustrated,” Prime Minister Holness noted.
“I want to put the two things together… that the developments at Drax Hall and the investments that we are seeing here… it is important that this be done, so that we can get the tax revenues, and we get the people employed so that we can dedicate the dividends from these direct foreign investments that are needed and invest it in the people,” the Prime Minister added.
