Jamaica Emerging as Shining Example – CDB President

President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith, says Jamaica is emerging as a shining example of a country that has weathered the storm of severe austerity and is now on the road to economic stability.

Addressing the CDB’s 46^th annual meeting of Board of Governors at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, Rose Hall, St. James on May 18, Dr. Smith said there is tangible evidence  that Jamaica is  turning the corner and is on course for a bright and sustainable future.

“We can take encouragement from the green shoots now beginning to appear, right here in Jamaica,” he noted.

Dr. Smith argued that  Jamaica’s pursuit of economic and structural reforms, dictated by conditions set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), not only had its fair share of problems, but required huge sacrifices by the Jamaican people.

“Today, Jamaica appears to be wrestling to the ground the twin monsters of sovereign indebtedness and fiscal unsustainability that have bedeviled it for much of its years as a sovereign nation,” he said.

“Many reforms for improving the business climate have been introduced, and many more are underway. Private investment is now beginning to increase, which is evident in the vital tourism and renewable energy sectors. We are also seeing this in business process outsourcing and the local manufacturing sectors,”  Dr. Smith added.

The President said  the new government appears to have embraced what was good in the previous dispensation and has set about further galvanizing the nation around the task of realizing aggressive, transformational economic growth.

“The ultimate success of the Jamaica project can only serve as a symbol of hope and encouragement for the rest of our region,” Dr. Smith said.

He pointed out that Jamaica was ranked 64th in the 2016 Doing Business Index, the highest ranked Caribbean country for the second consecutive year.

“This country has introduced a number of structural benchmarks in an effort to improve overall competiveness. Enhancements in the institutional and regulatory environment have led to a reduction in the processing time for some business transactions and a number of recent surveys point to growing domestic business confidence,” the  President said.

Dr. Smith  emphasised that a concerted effort is needed by each borrowing member country to target those measures which will have the greatest incremental impact on business facilitation.