Tweet
The former president of Life of Jamaica (LoJ) has rejected claims that bad fiscal management on the part of insurance companies was one of the key factors which caused the meltdown of the 1990's.
According to Raby Danvers Williams, who was giving evidence at the Commission of Enquiry into the operations of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) on Tuesday, the insurance companies were the heroes and not the villains.
He told the Enquiry that insurance companies helped to build the country at a time when foreign investment was thin on the ground.
"We when the foreign financial institutions wouldn't invest any money to help Jamaica grow as a nation; we were the ones who were out there. When the hotels, for example, had to be divested, there was nobody else for them to be divested to and so pension funds which wwre in there for the long term (were used) to buy hotels ... there was nothing reckless about that. It was done to help Jamaica grow and develop," Mr. Williams said.
He also argued that the state of the economy at the time rather than individual action by companies.
"It was the economic situation in the country that ruined our entire financial sector, not just the life insurance companies but the banks as well. One must ask how come all of these institutions went belly up except one or two ... common sense tells us that it has to be something much more fundamental," said Mr. Williams.
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/24430/52/
According to Raby Danvers Williams, who was giving evidence at the Commission of Enquiry into the operations of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) on Tuesday, the insurance companies were the heroes and not the villains.
He told the Enquiry that insurance companies helped to build the country at a time when foreign investment was thin on the ground.
"We when the foreign financial institutions wouldn't invest any money to help Jamaica grow as a nation; we were the ones who were out there. When the hotels, for example, had to be divested, there was nobody else for them to be divested to and so pension funds which wwre in there for the long term (were used) to buy hotels ... there was nothing reckless about that. It was done to help Jamaica grow and develop," Mr. Williams said.
He also argued that the state of the economy at the time rather than individual action by companies.
"It was the economic situation in the country that ruined our entire financial sector, not just the life insurance companies but the banks as well. One must ask how come all of these institutions went belly up except one or two ... common sense tells us that it has to be something much more fundamental," said Mr. Williams.
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/24430/52/
Comment