Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, says there is improving resilience in the local economy despite external economic shocks in the third quarter of 2019.

 “STATIN (the Statistical Institute of

Jamaica) reported earlier this week that the Jamaican economy grew in the June to

September quarter of 2019 by 0.6 per cent over the June to September quarter of

2018. Modest economic expansion, therefore, continues despite the closure of

the JISCO/Alpart plant in the September 2019 quarter and the corresponding 17.6

per cent decline in output in the important bauxite/alumina sector as a

result,” he said.

Closure of JISCO

Clarke noted that news of the JISCO closure

has been in the public domain for months and the anticipated economic impact

has most probably been priced in.

“The closure of JISCO is expected to impact

the fourth quarter of 2019 as well. However, the fact that the economy

still expanded overall, despite a decline of nearly 18 per cent in the critical

alumina sector, as a result of the JISCO/Alpart closure, is a credit to the

improving economic resilience of the Jamaican economy,” he outlined.

He emphasised that the international context

is important, as the United States-China trade tensions and lower global growth

have led to declines in the prices of commodities, including alumina, iron ore,

soybeans and copper.

“As a result, growth in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2019 is forecast by the IMF to average only 0.2 per cent,” he said, pointing out that although Jamaica is affected by the same external shocks, the country’s 2019 growth is ahead of the Latin American and Caribbean average.

“It may not be much comfort, but this context

is nevertheless important,” he said.