2.2% - Jamaica's GDP growth rate for 2011
-
Source: Business Insider -http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-slowest-economies-2012-6?op=1
7 - Jamaica's rank
on IMF's data of the worlds slowest growing economies.
-
Source: Business Insider -http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-slowest-economies-2012-6?op=1
8.55% - Growth rate
of Jamaica's Total Internal Debt for 2011
-
Source: Bank of Jamaica - http://www.boj.org.jm/statistics/econdata/stats_list.php?type=8
18.75% - Growth rate
of Total Government Guaranteed External Debt between Mar 2010 - Feb 2011
-
Source: Bank of Jamaica - http://www.boj.org.jm/statistics/econdata/stats_list.php?type=8
JM$1,226.15 Billion - Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product
-
Source: Economy Watch - http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/country/Jamaica/
JM$1,713.29 Billion - Total Government Gross Debt
- Source: Economy Watch - http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/country/Jamaica/
50 - Number of years
it took various political leaders to pile this burden and if this is allowed to
increase the earlier six numbers will only get worse.
Why these numbers
should matter:
- More Taxes: Debts must be repaid and the primary means for the government to pay these debts is through taxes. Jamaicans should brace for more and significant tax increases over the next five years should national debt growth rates continue to out pace GDP growth and government tax inflows growth rates.
- Devaluation of the Jamaican dollar: The more debt Jamaica has the less attractive the currency looks especially if NIR is being used to pay debt. The more the dollar devalues the more expensive everything will become and technically leading to increased poverty.
- Higher interest rates: If Jamaica is viewed as being less capable of repaying its debts by international rating firms, Jamaica could be down graded. If this happens higher interest rates could follow and as a result to cost of money will go up. if this happen and history repeats itself Jamaicans may brace for further economic contraction.
- Lack of national financial resources to spend on public sector wages and national infrastructure: if there is no funds to finance public sector wages then one of or two things could happen. Public sector workforce is cut or a salary freeze is imposed for the next 3-5 years.
Possible options
(solutions suggestions) for the country:
- Jamaicans start to consume significantly less imports (food and fuel) and shift much more of our efforts into export of all legal kinds.
- All public sector workers agree immediately to a sacrifice of a public sector wage freeze for the next two-three years wage freeze without retroactive payment for two years.
- Debt forgiveness or a partial default on the national debt which is quickly reaching a crescendo at which point the country will default.
Greater belt
tightening is a must in the near future if the debt growth rates don't
stabilize or begin to fall. Jamaicans can choose to tighten this belt
voluntarily now or be forced to do so in the near future 3-5 years as a
consequence of the uncontrolled and unmanageable debt levels.
The question I have to ask myself is, is this real or is this a consequence of an overly worried and misinformed mind?
political leaders need a wage cut to below when they gave themselves an increase. we shouldn't have a big jamaica 50 celebration. Tax heavily imported goods to slow imports of products we produce ourselves.
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