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BY MARK CUMMINGS, Observer senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, June 26, 2009
FRORENCE HALL, Trelawny - Prime Minister Bruce Golding has warned that a return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not solve the country's economic problems.
"We all recognise that while we may need an IMF agreement to help us through this economic storm that we are facing, an IMF agreement is not going to solve the problems of Jamaica," Golding said.
"The problems of Jamaica lie in the fact that we import too much and we are not producing enough to feed ourselves. We need to produce more and import less and that is the way that were are going to have to build the economy and create jobs."
The prime minister was speaking yesterday at the inaugural staging of the Production and Marketing Organisation (PMO) conference and exposition at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium, shortly after he had consultations with the Social Parternship Group (SPG), ahead of future talks with the IMF.
The prime minister told his audience of hundreds of farmers, however, that he could not make any statement on the outcome of the discussions with the group - comprising representatives of the trade unions, private sector and the parliamentary Opposition - "at this time".
The county, he said, will know next month whether or not the Government will seek assistance from the fund.
"We are not in a position as yet to speak to the details of what was discussed at the meeting today (yesterday) and the direction that we are going to take, other than to say that the negotiations are continuing," Golding added.
Finance Minister Audley Shaw will leave the island for Washington next week with a high-level team to have talks with the Fund.
Following those discussions, Golding said, a team from the IMF will visit the island to continue the talks.
Jamaica, under the People's National Party Government of P J Patterson, ended the island's borrowing relationship with the IMF in the 1990s, following criticisms of the austerity measures imposed by the Fund.
Yesterday, Golding made it clear that Government would not return to the IMF unless it is satisfied that the agreement is beneficial to the country.
Meanwhile, Shaw told the conference that the agricultural sector will have to play a major role in the country's economic recovery.
"The message has to be sent all across Jamaica that a part of the solution to the problems that we face in our country is that we have to revive agriculture and agro industry," Shaw said. "It has to be a major part of the economic solution for this country."
The conference and exposition, which had an estimated 3,000 farmers in attendance, was staged by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in association with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.
Friday, June 26, 2009
FRORENCE HALL, Trelawny - Prime Minister Bruce Golding has warned that a return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not solve the country's economic problems.
"We all recognise that while we may need an IMF agreement to help us through this economic storm that we are facing, an IMF agreement is not going to solve the problems of Jamaica," Golding said.
"The problems of Jamaica lie in the fact that we import too much and we are not producing enough to feed ourselves. We need to produce more and import less and that is the way that were are going to have to build the economy and create jobs."
The prime minister was speaking yesterday at the inaugural staging of the Production and Marketing Organisation (PMO) conference and exposition at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium, shortly after he had consultations with the Social Parternship Group (SPG), ahead of future talks with the IMF.
The prime minister told his audience of hundreds of farmers, however, that he could not make any statement on the outcome of the discussions with the group - comprising representatives of the trade unions, private sector and the parliamentary Opposition - "at this time".
The county, he said, will know next month whether or not the Government will seek assistance from the fund.
"We are not in a position as yet to speak to the details of what was discussed at the meeting today (yesterday) and the direction that we are going to take, other than to say that the negotiations are continuing," Golding added.
Finance Minister Audley Shaw will leave the island for Washington next week with a high-level team to have talks with the Fund.
Following those discussions, Golding said, a team from the IMF will visit the island to continue the talks.
Jamaica, under the People's National Party Government of P J Patterson, ended the island's borrowing relationship with the IMF in the 1990s, following criticisms of the austerity measures imposed by the Fund.
Yesterday, Golding made it clear that Government would not return to the IMF unless it is satisfied that the agreement is beneficial to the country.
Meanwhile, Shaw told the conference that the agricultural sector will have to play a major role in the country's economic recovery.
"The message has to be sent all across Jamaica that a part of the solution to the problems that we face in our country is that we have to revive agriculture and agro industry," Shaw said. "It has to be a major part of the economic solution for this country."
The conference and exposition, which had an estimated 3,000 farmers in attendance, was staged by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in association with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.