OPPOSITION LEADER Edward Seaga said yesterday that consultation with several stakeholders would be required if the Government were to adopt his proposal that the country move to a fixed exchange rate monetary policy.He made the suggestion Thursday, during his contribution to the 2004/05 Budget Debate in Gordon House.
Speaking yesterday at a post-Budget press briefing at the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Belmont Road, New Kingston, headquarters, Mr. Seaga said that those consultations would have to involve the Bank of Jamaica and commercial banks.
"We would have inputs from other interested parties to determine what would be the commencement rate," the Opposition Leader said, noting that the fixed exchange rate could be implemented within six months.
COMMENCEMENT RATE
Mr. Seaga further noted that the commencement rate of exchange would quite possibly be the same rate that exists now, which on Thursday stood at J$61 to US$1. "It might be somewhat lower, it might be somewhat higher, but it shouldn't be anything that would deviate to any great extent from what is," he added.
On Thursday, Mr. Seaga proposed that the Government adopt a fixed rate of monetary exchange in an effort to lower inflation and address a deteriorating national economy hampered by high interest rates.
He asserted that there was a "persuasive argument for a fixed exchange rate as the centrepiece of a macroeconomic policy to stabilise the economy by a combined low interest rate-low inflation strategy."
