Government and IMF Team to Discuss Successor Relationship

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is scheduled to arrive within the next month for discussions with the Government on a successor relationship to the four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which ends in April 2017.

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon Audley Shaw, made the announcement during Friday’s (August 19) 13^th IMF quarterly review media briefing, held at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

Mr. Shaw told journalists that while there are “various options” from which to choose, the Government is exploring the possible implementation of a “precautionary” arrangement.

This, he explained, will facilitate continuation of the administration’s structural reform programme with specific measurable performance objectives and potential financial support, in the event of natural disasters and oil price spikes, “the sort of things that can affect your balance of payments”.

Noting that Jamaica is on a “good trajectory”, consequent on implementation of the IMF-supported economic reform programme, Mr. Shaw said follow-up relations with the institution will not require another EFF arrangement.

“As a Government, we have indicated publicly that we are not resiling from continuing a relationship with the IMF,” he said.

In her remarks, Head of the IMF’s Staff Mission Team to Jamaica, Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan, advised that the members held preliminary discussions on the matter with Government representatives during the just-concluded 13^th review for the April to June quarter.

She indicated, however, that any recommendation for an alternative arrangement must be approved by the IMF’s Executive Board before it can be implemented.