Gov’t says no to balance of payment action against T&T

KINGSTON, Jamaica – THE Ministry of Finance and Planning and the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) are against Jamaica using Article 43 of the Revised CARICOM Treaty to address current balance of payment issues with CARICOM.
“(They) have indicated that they do not believe it is in the interest of Jamaica to utilise these articles at this time,” Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Arnaldo Brown, told the House of Representatives Wednesday, noting that, in addition to Article 43, relevant GATT and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Articles would also have to be included.
“For one, Jamaica is now in an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and two, they are concerned about the inflationary effect of such action and the unfavourable signals which could be sent to trading partners and the international community, in general,” Brown explained.