- Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
Davies: We do not intend to enter into a borrowing arrangement with the IMF.
Robert Hart, Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT has quashed suggestions that there is a plan under way to return to a borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite speculation surrounding the presence on the island of a team from the multilateral lending agency.
"Within the context of the conditionalities of the standard IMF programmes, we do not intend to enter into a borrowing arrangement with the IMF," Dr. Omar Davies, Minister of Finance and Planning, told the House of Represen-tatives yesterday.
The Finance Minister was responding to mounting conjecture about the meaning that could be placed on the IMF team's visit, in the face of the country's galloping financial crisis.
Dr. Davies noted that 'there have been assertions emanating from various spokespersons for the Opposition' about the presence of the team as well as 'the future relationship between the Government and that institution.'
However, in what appeared to be a tacit slap at Opposition Senator Bruce Golding, who has demanded that the Government explain the reason for the IMF's visit, the Finance Minister said he wished 'to simply state the facts such that the speculation and wild assertions can be put to rest.'
In so doing, he explained that the IMF team was in the country to engage in Article IV consultations, a standard requirement that is carried out at least once a year. Under this Article, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country's economic developments and policies before preparing a report.
"The present round of consultations had been scheduled to take place in November but was postponed until now by mutual agreement," he said.
But Senator Golding is not the only person to have suggested the Government might soon return to borrowing through the IMF, an act it had discontinued several years ago.
On December 2, just a day after the team landed, economist Dr. Omri Evans told The Gleaner the visit was neither normal nor routine.
"The government will need IMF resources next year to fund the budget," he asserted.
He added that in the absence of an IMF agreement Jamaica stands to lose financial support from multilateral lenders.
During yesterday's sitting, Opposition Leader Edward Seaga also requested a meeting with the team. That meeting should take place tomorrow, a day before the team is scheduled to leave the island.
During yesterday's sitting of the House, the Finance Minister was also questioned by Opposition spokesman on finance Audley Shaw, about Monday's meeting with Permanent Secretaries.
On that issue the Minister said: "The objective of yesterday's (Monday's) meeting was to meet with the Permanent Secretaries in order to indicate the full presentation as to what are the targets, where we are, as well as to hear from each of them what are the specific problems they face in each ministry."
Dr. Davies said that each Permanent Secretary will have to take control in terms of managing the resources of each ministry.
