Caribbean News Now
by Global News Staff
Jamaica — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed concerns about some aspects of the Jamaican government’s fiscal programmes.
While applauding the Bruce Golding administration for passing all the tests set for the third quarter under the standby arrangement entered into last year, the IMF has raised the red flag on some of the steps taken by government.
According to the IMF — in a report concluded on December 28, 2010, but released only last Friday — while the government met all the quantitative performance targets at the end of September, there were some worrying signs.
“In the fiscal area, the September benchmarks related to the Central Treasury Management System (CTMS) reform were met in the debt-management area, the benchmark requiring the hiring of a technical adviser and project manager for the reform programme was not met,” the IMF said.
“Delays have also emerged with the public-sector rationalisation plan, as parliamentary hearings have continued beyond the time frame originally envisaged,” added the IMF.
According to the IMF, despite the good performance under the programme through to the end of September mounting spending pressures and delays in some fiscal reforms have required the adoption of corrective measures by the Jamaican authorities.
