THE GOVERNING People's National Party (PNP) is dismissing the Opposition's call for the release of the nation's fiscal deficit projections before the end of the financial year.
Party chairman, Robert Pickersgill, told journalists yesterday that the PNP is unconcerned by the latest demands of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
ACCUSTOMED
"We have grown accustomed to these veiled threats and warnings. Not that we don't note them, but we don't pay too much attention to them," said Mr. Pickersgill, who is also Minister of Transport and Works. He was speaking at a press briefing on the results of the party's one-day National Executive Council (NEC) meeting last Saturday.
The meeting, held to allow the party's executive to scrutinise the current state of the country's economy, had primarily facilitated a presentation from Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies.
During yesterday's briefing Dr. Davies said that he would not be changing his timetable for releasing any further information on the economy. He also brushed aside the JLP's stance on the release of information regarding the deficit, which Opposition Leader Edward Seaga claimed on Tuesday would round out the year at 10 per cent. The initially programmed deficit for the year was just five per cent.
According to Dr. Davies, plans are in place to bring the facts to the table during a pre-budget briefing slated for next month.
"The JLP are aware of the logic and that's why their 'deadline' has been structured around February 17," Dr. Davies said.
But Audley Shaw, Opposition spokesman on finance, told The Gleaner yesterday that the originally stated purpose of the pre-budget briefing was to deal only with the upcoming 2004/2005 budget.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT
"We were now inserting an additional requirement for that date," he added, noting that the Opposition will now be waiting until that briefing to tackle the Government on the deficit and other issues regarding the current fiscal year.
Mr. Shaw also noted that the Finance Minister was scheduled to answer questions posed in December about overdue debts of Government Ministries and agencies.
"I had asked for a list of all payments past due," he said. Mr. Shaw's questions were triggered by last year's revelations at Parliament's Public Accounts Committee that billions of dollars are owed by the Ministries of Health, National Security and Transport and Works.
PNP recommendations
During yesterday's PNP briefing four specific recommendations were highlighted for Jamaica's economic recovery by Robert Pickersgill. They are:
A faster reduction of interest rates;
the establishment and focus on fewer budget priorities;
the promotion and support of measures to conserve foreign exchange;
and promoting the use of local resources for local and export production.
