PNP on Devaluation of Jamaican Dollar: Making his contribution to the 2021-2022 budget debate on Tuesday, Opposition Leader, Mark Golding highlighted a $33 billion dollar dividend being paid out of profits made by the Central Bank in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
A substantial portion of the funding of the budget for the coming fiscal year is to come from that surplus.
He describes this as inappropriate and a move that hurts low-income people.
Golding says in essence the Bank of Jamaica has profited from the volatility of the foreign exchange market which has led to the devaluation of the Jamaican currency over the three years.
During a Post Budget Media Briefing, Wednesday, Golding notes that stability in the foreign exchange market can only be achieved through greater earnings.
The government’s one off grant, of 10-thousand dollars ,under the COVID-19 Care Programme was also criticized as being woefully inadequate.
Golding also joined the call for the Government to spend an additional $21.5 billion dollars to accelerate growth in the next fiscal year.
During his presentation, Golding also called for a revision of the minimum wage, a transformation in the financing of tertiary education by abolishing the student’s loan bureau guarantor system and for the restart of the vale royal talks.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness will make his contribution on Thursday with Dr. Clarke to close off the budget debate next week.
Meanwhile, one financial expert is describing the Finance Minister’s Budget Presentation as credible and one that will generate some amount of economic growth.
Dennis Chung is of the view that the additional expenditure being proposed by the opposition is a risky move.
He adds that the dividends from the Bank of Jamaica to fund the budget is a good idea, even though the bank should not be making a profit or a loss, as it works more efficiently when it’s even.
