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published: Wednesday | November 22, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Deon P. Green, Gleaner Writer
Dr. Omar Davies, Minister of <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">Finance</SPAN> and Planning. - File
Jamaica's finance Minis-ter Dr. Omar Davies says the multimillion-dollar flows of remittances to Jamaicans were instilling a culture of dependency over achievement, as he headed into a meeting with London bankers in the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">United </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Kingdom</SPAN> on the weekend.
Davies, while acknowledging remittances as a boon to the domestic economy, said it was time to find ways of funnelling the funds into productive activity.
Last year, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">Jamaica</SPAN> recorded US$1.6 billion of remittance flows, with expectations that <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">money </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">transfers</SPAN> will climb again in 2006.
This year, flows have amounted to just under US$1.3 billion to September.
The funds have helped to keep the foreign currency market stable but, socially, transfer recipients are becoming less inclined to find gainful employment, said Davies, responding to comments by Sylbourne Sydial, the founder and director of Facilitators for a Better Jamaica (FFB
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