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WIKILEAKS - Private-Sector Panic: Business Leaders Had No Confidence In Golding
Two years after Bruce Golding was voted into office on the back of strong private-sector support, some of the country's major business leaders were reporting that they had lost confidence in him.
A confidential United States diplomatic cable sent from the Kingston Embassy to Washington said Jamaica's private-sector leaders were nervous about the delay in inking a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and that the risk of capital flight was mounting.
According to the November 2009 cable, embassy officials concluded that "when the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) returned to power in 2007 after 18 years in opposition, the victory was met with a groundswell of optimism in the private sector, which thought the country would finally chart a course for positive growth and put an end to deficit spending".
"Two years later, the private sector is now talking about the possibility of panic in the market and the rising risk of capital flight, the initial indicators which are already being seen. Unfortunately for Jamaica, there is no other exiled political party to restore hope, and there is little confidence that either the JLP, or the Opposition People's National Party, has the courage to overcome the current economic crisis," the correspondence added.
The cable suggested that the Government's much heralded Jamaica Debt Exchange was not the creation of Golding or Finance Minister Audley Shaw, but instead, was the idea of enlightened self-interests in the private sector.
"Prime Minister Bruce Golding's lack of political courage in making difficult decisions has created a crisis of confidence in the private sector," the November 2009 cable sent by Chargé d'affaires Isiah Parnell said.
READ MORE @ http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead6.html
Two years after Bruce Golding was voted into office on the back of strong private-sector support, some of the country's major business leaders were reporting that they had lost confidence in him.
A confidential United States diplomatic cable sent from the Kingston Embassy to Washington said Jamaica's private-sector leaders were nervous about the delay in inking a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and that the risk of capital flight was mounting.
According to the November 2009 cable, embassy officials concluded that "when the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) returned to power in 2007 after 18 years in opposition, the victory was met with a groundswell of optimism in the private sector, which thought the country would finally chart a course for positive growth and put an end to deficit spending".
"Two years later, the private sector is now talking about the possibility of panic in the market and the rising risk of capital flight, the initial indicators which are already being seen. Unfortunately for Jamaica, there is no other exiled political party to restore hope, and there is little confidence that either the JLP, or the Opposition People's National Party, has the courage to overcome the current economic crisis," the correspondence added.
The cable suggested that the Government's much heralded Jamaica Debt Exchange was not the creation of Golding or Finance Minister Audley Shaw, but instead, was the idea of enlightened self-interests in the private sector.
"Prime Minister Bruce Golding's lack of political courage in making difficult decisions has created a crisis of confidence in the private sector," the November 2009 cable sent by Chargé d'affaires Isiah Parnell said.
READ MORE @ http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead6.html
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