EPOC Confident In Jamaica’s Economic Recovery
The Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) is expressing confidence that Jamaica will be able to bounce back from far-reaching effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
EPOC says the island has achieved macroeconomic stability over the past seven years, which now creates a foundation to execute the recovery.
EPOC believes the current financial plan is robust enough to navigate the country to a full economic recovery despite a 22.8 % drop in revenue from international trade, production & consumption.
Chairman Keith Duncan explains why EPOC expects to see positive GDP growth in the next year and will return to pre-COVID-19 levels by 2023/2024.
The economy went into shock in April when the government implemented strict measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The fiscal deficit in April stood at $13.28B compared to $6.02B in the same period last year.
Duncan explains that going forward, greater focus must be placed on building a new economy.
Duncan says EPOC supports the phased, structured, and controlled reopening of the country as there is always a need to balance lives and livelihood.
