‘Low interest rates and jobs needed’…MoBay Chamber of Commerce urges new Govt.

Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Davon Crump -Volney Barrett Photo

The Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) has joined political, civic and business groups in calling on the new Portia Simpson Miller administration to do all it can to resuscitate growth in the Jamaican economy.

His comments came on the heels of a warning issued to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller by Opposition Leader Andrew Holness that she and her team must work to keep interest rates low and build on the economic growth that they (JLP) had achieved while in government. 

In an interview with the Western Mirror on Wednesday, MBCCI President Davon Crump, he cited low interest rates, job creation and negotiating a new standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the factors which must be embarked on to help spur economic growth.  

“First of all, without a doubt, the lowering of the interest rates by the previous JLP government was a good thing we would not want to see them (interest rates) get back high … we are going to be watching and we hope low interest rates are maintained,” Crump said. 

He added:  “As a chamber, there are some things which were being worked on by the previous government which we would like to see continue; of course low interest rates, crime was trending down and we really want it to stay low and get lower.” 

Crump also pointed out that: “We have some concerns with the IMF we need the government to get it where it needs to be, we are looking forward to them creating jobs.” 

Newly appointed Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips has begun talks with representatives of the IMF who arrived in the island earlier this week. The 27 month stand-by arrangement ends in March of this year. 

GOVERNMENT PRIORITY

As it relates to high interest rates the PNP President and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller indicated during her inaugural presentation at her recent swearing in ceremony that the further lowering of interest rates will be a key priority of her government.  

She also announced the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) as her government’s short term job creation initiative; talks have begun to discuss the proposed reallocation of a portion of funds earmarked for the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) to the JEEP programme.   

Meanwhile, the chamber is also seeking talks with the government at the earliest possible time to discuss issues affecting the city of Montego Bay.  

“We have written to the Minister of Tourism, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, the ones that we know will affect us (through policies); we want meet with them to discuss all the issues with them,” Crump added. 

“I know we have engaged Lloyd B. Smith, who is now the new MP for Central St. James and he is ready to meet with us; he is ready to talk about the state of Montego Bay because I think that was something he promised before winning the election. Before the election, we had said to him that this (the state of Montego Bay) needed to be focused on,” he went on. 

Crump indicated that he is expecting to meet with Smith soon.