Finance Minister Audley Shaw has reacted with humility to news that he has been chosen by GlobalMarkets as Finance Minister of the Year 2017 for the Caribbean.

Shaw, who received the notice in an e-mail last Thursday from the newspaper’s Managing Editor Toby Fildes, said that he was honoured to accept the award on behalf of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the Jamaican Government, and the people of Jamaica who collectively are responsible for the positive economic outcomes listed in Fildes’ letter.

“It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you that GlobalMarkets, the newspaper of record at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting, has named you Finance Minister of the Year for the Caribbean,” Fildes wrote.

“I chair the editorial committee of GlobalMarkets that has considered you the outstanding candidate for the award this year.

“You have continued with an impressive roster of economic reforms that was started by the previous Administration, demonstrating the country’s political stability. You have kept a tight hand on Government spending — the fiscal surplus is very high — which will help whittle down Government debt,” Fildes stated.

“The country has been cited as a standout performer on its fiscal targets and the new Government is now targeting faster growth. The measures are paying off: the sovereign recently approached the market with a liability-management exercise. In addition, the country’s ratings have been on the up since 2014, with Moody’s lifting the country to B3 in November,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to presenting Shaw with the award, which he described as “well-deserved” on Saturday, October 14 in Washington, DC.

News of the award came as Shaw and the Government were expressing satisfaction with the Administration’s successful entry into the international bond markets this month.

A press brief from the finance ministry last week stated that US$145 Million of high interest rate, shorter-term global bonds were repurchased by the Government.

“US$869 million in long-term global bonds were also issued in the international bond market, providing the funds utilised for the repurchase,” the ministry said, adding that the Government also exercised its option to prepay US$526 million of US-dollar bonds in the domestic market through utilisation of some of the proceeds from the international bond market issue.

“Market analysts marvelled at the high level of oversubscription of the external bond issue (3.8 times the take-up) and the historic low yields that are equivalent to rates that apply to investment grade issuers. The yields were: five per cent on bonds due in 2028 and 6.45 per cent for those due in 2045,” the ministry said.

“These are historically the lowest yields that the Government of Jamaica has been able to secure for long-maturity global bonds,” the press brief quoted Shaw, who explained that the interventions in the bond market were fully in concert with overarching efforts to reduce the national debt and extend maturities.

“This is a resounding vote of confidence in the ongoing work to maintain macroeconomic stability and to reform the Jamaican economy,” Shaw was quoted as saying. “This includes fundamental changes in independence of the central bank; exchange rate flexibility; public sector transformation; and reduced red tape for business activity. These are vital reforms, but hard work remains to be done to ensure that growth is strong and equitable.”

See related story on Page 5 in Sunday Finance.