KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – THERE were two occurrences within the past week that reminded me that Jamaica still has a lot to do in order to see long-term sustainable development. There was an announcement that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is on the island, and it is expected that a staff-level agreement should be reached after this visit. This means that we can expect board approval within six weeks, which would be just before the 2013/14 budget is tabled. There seems to be general acceptance that any IMF agreement is just a stop-gap measure, as articulated by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and more recently the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) president Christopher Zacca. What is also evident is that the government has to be careful not to get an agreement like the 2010 one where the targets set were unrealistic and never had a chance of being met.
