Jamaica Receives Us$14.85 Million Against National Disaster Risk

Despite Jamaica’s economic achievements, the country remains vulnerable to natural disasters and extreme weather events that could threaten the progress.

With this view in mind, the Government is taking a multi-layered strategic approach to protect Jamaica against a potential fiscal shock.

The country is set to benefit from a multi-million-dollar grant from the Global Risk Financing Facility (GRIF) to support the expansion of its financial protection against natural disaster risks.

The announcement was made recently at the ‘Learning from Jamaica’s Economic Turnaround’ event during the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings 2019.

The grant is valued at $14.85 million U.S Dollars and will support the capitalization of the natural disaster fund.

The event featured a presentation from Minister of Finance Dr. Nigel Clarke on the lessons from Jamaica’s success in reducing public debt by almost 50 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in six and a half years while reducing unemployment and inflation to historically low levels.

The World Bank, with support from the United Kingdom, is providing technical assistance for Jamaica’s preparation of a national disaster risk financing policy.

The World Bank is also working with the Government on risk modeling, which could be used to access risk insurance through the capital markets.

The Global Risk Financing Facility (GRIF) is a multi-donor trust fund housed at the World Bank, supported by Germany and the United Kingdom, and this grant represents the largest made by GRIF to a middle-income country.