"JAMAICA AND the SMP: continuity or change, growth or recession?" will be the theme of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) public seminar today at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.
The PSOJ will use this seminar to increase the awareness and understanding of the business sector and the wider private sector about the implications of Jamaica's new relationship with the International Monetary Fund under its Staff Monitored Programme.
Integral to the day's discussions will be the crucial participation of two officials from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): Mr. Robert Bellefeuille who is the IDB's Representative in Jamaica, and Dr. Hunt Howell, the Bank's senior financial analyst who was instrumental in that institution's negotiations with Jamaica. Dr. Hunt will be sharing with seminar participants how the IDB loans will relate to the SMP.
The seminar will also provide an opportunity for participants to hear the Government's perspective on these international loans through the presentation of the Planning Institute of Jamaica's Director General, Dr. Wesley Hughes, on" The New Millennium Loan Programmes: Essence and Implications".
Another topic to be explored will be "Jamaican's foreign exchange policy has it changed and how will it be affected by the terms of the SMP?" In addition, the PSOJ Secretariat, through presentations from executive director Charles Ross and research economist Jason Morris, will be sharing with participants its forecasts on the likely movement of the Jamaican dollar in the short, medium and long terms.
The last session of the seminar will provide an opportunity for an interchange of ideas and concerns between all the presenters and the participants.
