FOLLOWING A vigorous three-hour debate yesterday, the Government narrowly defeated an Opposition motion for a change in the economic model being pursued by the Patterson Administration.
The Jamaica Labour Party charged that the strategy had led only to stagnation over the past decade.
Voting along strict party lines, the 28 PNP parliamentarians present voted to retain the current model while 24 JLP members voted for change. Six members were absent.
Opposition Leader Edward Seaga, who proposed the resolution, contended that Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies' low inflation strategy lacked an essential ingredient for growth - well-directed investments - and insisted the Government should be pursuing a 'low inflation growth' model.
"If the low inflation model is combined with the appropriate policies which attract strong investment then the combined strategies will produce a 'low inflation growth model', the objective of development strategies," the Opposition Leader said.
The Finance Minister however said there was no essential difference in the strategies and invited Seaga to say instead how to generate investments.
Dr. Davies also told the House that Government is no longer attempting to achieve the 4.4 per cent fiscal deficit target but is now shooting for eight per cent. However, he said that the deficit would reach 8.4 per cent by the end of March if Government took a "passive" stance and did nothing to arrest it.
The Minister refused to indicate whether new taxes were imminent, despite Opposition appeals to state the nature of the adjustments that the country should expect in the short to medium term.
