Dear Editor,

Dr Nigel Clarke was expected in the next couple of months to lead his team at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service to address a wide range of unfinished business.

From the perspective of economists, there is public sector reform, a revised budget, funding to fill the gap left by Hurricane Beryl, stemming the pending economic downturn and rising living expenses, budgeting for the pending general election, bringing about economic stability, establishing the Independent Fiscal Commission, bringing about financial economic reforms, consolidating monetary authorities, and revising the tax credit scheme.

There have been ongoing negotiations with various trade unions for more than a year. Based on the outstanding issues it will take more than a year to arrive at some form of settlement. The Joint Confederation of Trade Unions has at least eight outstanding items. Other major groups, such as the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and the Nurses Association of Jamaica to name two, also have a number of outstanding items. As a society we do pride ourselves in having a progressive and modern industrial relations system.

The technical personnel at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service are negotiating constantly with the various bargaining units. Some of my compatriots are of the view that the country will never achieve public sector reform. The Jamaican tax intake and the size of the economy will never be able to meet the compensation expectations of the nearly 100,000 public sector employees. Comparison with what obtains in the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom is always part of the equation.

The business community was expecting movements in the benefits to the transport sector; containment of inflation; control of the slide in the dollar; and tax reform, including modification to the General Consumption Tax regime.

A review of all these expectations leads one to ask whether Dr Clarke and his technical team at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service could achieve all that is expected. He may have needed a break and hence this offer may have provided him with the opportunity to breathe.

The challenge for society is: Will the new minister of finance be expected to be a Hercules cleaning the Augean stables and will the technical team be driven to the wall?

Given the current situation, with all those outstanding issues, what will be the state of Jamaica in the next two to five years? Will there be growth, an improved standard of living, less vicious crimes, a better quality of life, a more caring society, and a higher level of productivity? How many of the hundreds of informal settlements will be removed, and how many persons will be off the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education(PATH) ?

The experts keep reminding us that the level of productivity at this stage of our development is less than it was 30 years ago.

My best wishes to the new minister of finance.

Dr Horace A Williams

Management consultant

williebo@cwjamaica.com