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Shaw behind Davies - Jamaicans think Davies would do better job
AUDLEY SHAW continues to trail a long way behind Dr Omar Davies as the man most Jamaicans believe would do the better job as finance minister, despite the many recent positive developments in the economy.
In a Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll, Davies received the nod from 48 per cent of respondents when they were asked who has done the better job as finance minister.
This more than doubled Shaw, who received 23 per cent, while 28 per cent of the respondents did not chose either of the two.
"This was not surprising, as the man in the street has seen a decline in his disposable income in the past year and 50,000 people have lost their jobs," economic analyst Dennis Chung told The Sunday Gleaner in response to the polls.
But Chung hinted that the selection could be based more on the personal fortunes of individuals rather than a look at which of the two has been better for the country's long-term economic fortunes.
"The difference is that in the 1990s, the economy was being grown by borrowing, so there was more expenditure happening, but that was way above productivity. There was some macroeconomic stability at the expense of the fiscal accounts," Chung argued.
Achievements
He pointed out that Shaw has set out on a course to correct the problems of the past decade, but despite some positives at the macro level, this has not started to reach the man in the street.
Shaw, who has held the country's purse strings for just under three years, has racked up a somewhat impressive list of achievements at a difficult time.
He successfully carried out a local debt exchange that has won congratulations all across the world, supervised the return to a borrowing arrangement with the IMF, and has managed to borrow low-priced money from the multilateral agencies.
In addition, there has been a steady decline in interest rates to levels not seen in more than a decade, and a stability in the foreign-exchange market, cul-minating in a revaluation of the Jamaican dollar and a reduction in the prices of some products.
But that has failed to impress most Jamaicans, who still think they were better off under Davies, despite the fact that his lengthy term provided little economic growth and included a period of astronomical interest rates and the meltdown of the financial sector.
Feeling the pinch
"The man in the street is feeling the pinch, and the perception will not change until the difficult adjustment of the economy is completed and improvements are seen at the micro level," Chung said.
"That is why the IMF suggested that there was a need to improve the social programmes, and it depends on how quickly the Government adjusts the economy," added Chung.
He noted that with the global recession, there has been a fall-off in remittances, and with the collapse of the bauxite sector, several communities in rural Jamaica are hurting.
That hurt is leading to a backlash not just against Shaw, but the entire Bruce Golding administration.
The Johnson poll found that 47 per cent of the respondents believed the former People's National Party administration did a better job of handling the economy than the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government.
Only 23 per cent of the respondents gave the nod to the JLP, while 30 per cent said they did not know. The Bill Johnson poll was conducted between April 24 and 25 and on May 1, with a sample size of 1,008 and a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead3.html
AUDLEY SHAW continues to trail a long way behind Dr Omar Davies as the man most Jamaicans believe would do the better job as finance minister, despite the many recent positive developments in the economy.
In a Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll, Davies received the nod from 48 per cent of respondents when they were asked who has done the better job as finance minister.
This more than doubled Shaw, who received 23 per cent, while 28 per cent of the respondents did not chose either of the two.
"This was not surprising, as the man in the street has seen a decline in his disposable income in the past year and 50,000 people have lost their jobs," economic analyst Dennis Chung told The Sunday Gleaner in response to the polls.
But Chung hinted that the selection could be based more on the personal fortunes of individuals rather than a look at which of the two has been better for the country's long-term economic fortunes.
"The difference is that in the 1990s, the economy was being grown by borrowing, so there was more expenditure happening, but that was way above productivity. There was some macroeconomic stability at the expense of the fiscal accounts," Chung argued.
Achievements
He pointed out that Shaw has set out on a course to correct the problems of the past decade, but despite some positives at the macro level, this has not started to reach the man in the street.
Shaw, who has held the country's purse strings for just under three years, has racked up a somewhat impressive list of achievements at a difficult time.
He successfully carried out a local debt exchange that has won congratulations all across the world, supervised the return to a borrowing arrangement with the IMF, and has managed to borrow low-priced money from the multilateral agencies.
In addition, there has been a steady decline in interest rates to levels not seen in more than a decade, and a stability in the foreign-exchange market, cul-minating in a revaluation of the Jamaican dollar and a reduction in the prices of some products.
But that has failed to impress most Jamaicans, who still think they were better off under Davies, despite the fact that his lengthy term provided little economic growth and included a period of astronomical interest rates and the meltdown of the financial sector.
Feeling the pinch
"The man in the street is feeling the pinch, and the perception will not change until the difficult adjustment of the economy is completed and improvements are seen at the micro level," Chung said.
"That is why the IMF suggested that there was a need to improve the social programmes, and it depends on how quickly the Government adjusts the economy," added Chung.
He noted that with the global recession, there has been a fall-off in remittances, and with the collapse of the bauxite sector, several communities in rural Jamaica are hurting.
That hurt is leading to a backlash not just against Shaw, but the entire Bruce Golding administration.
The Johnson poll found that 47 per cent of the respondents believed the former People's National Party administration did a better job of handling the economy than the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government.
Only 23 per cent of the respondents gave the nod to the JLP, while 30 per cent said they did not know. The Bill Johnson poll was conducted between April 24 and 25 and on May 1, with a sample size of 1,008 and a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead3.html
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