$100B for Social Protection Without Increase in Borrowing

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the government was able to reallocate resources within the Budget to deliver over $100 billion for social protection and recovery support.

Mr. Holness made the disclosure during his New Year’s Day message on January 1, where he said this was done, without any increase in borrowing.

“I understand that for some this may seem like not a big deal, however, in the past, shocks such as a storm or commodity price shocks as we experienced in the 1970s and 80s, or a global financial recession as we experienced in 2009, would have precipitated major economic crises with long recovery periods,” he stated.

“As the International Monetary Fund observed in its recent Concluding Statement on Jamaica, ‘unlike in the past — the pandemic related shock was not followed by a fiscal, financial, or balance of payments crisis’,” Mr. Holness added.

The Prime Minister noted that this is a solid testament of the maturing of Jamaica’s economic management and how far the country has progressed in its quest for economic independence.

“This solid fiscal platform underpins the strong recovery that we are already seeing. Tourism has rebounded to almost 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, employment is rebounding with the return of some 93,000 jobs, and expectations are that the country will record growth of around eight per cent,” Mr. Holness said.