The Editor, Sir:

In the national debate on financial matters, in my opinion, Mr. Shaw has failed to adequately explain how the JLP's manifesto is going to be funded. His continued assertion that the JLP will grow the economy and fund it through the commensurate increased tax collection is naïve at best and disingenuous at worst.

Investments

The fact is that for maybe the first two years of a new JLP government, the investments that will be flowing money into the national coffers will be the investments created under the PNP government as it will take at least that long for any significant new investment to take root.

Also if there is a change of government prudent investors are going to go into a holding pattern until they can see the 'lie of the land', which means some planned investments on the drawing board as we speak will be delayed, a situation that may also be further exasperated by a government hell-bent on expanding expenditure - a move which would be popular with the electorate, but may be less so with investors and could in fact see the government having to bump up the interest rates they are currently berating.

So let's be realistic. Finance is, after all, a logical discipline and the JLP's promises cannot be funded without new taxes or abandoning existing projects and activities. So let's dot our Is and cross our Ts. After all, the devil is in the details.

I am, etc.,

PAUL DUNCAN

Kingston

pduncan428@gmail.com

Via Go-Jamaica