Jamaica’s
opposition spokesman on finance Dr. Omar Davies has flayed the government’s
medium-term economic program, which includes several tax packages and a debt
exchange program with Jamaican-based financial institutions, both projected to
yield about a billion U.S. dollars.
Actuaries who advise trustees and sponsors
of pension funds say while they support the Jamaica Debt Exchange program, JDX,
they see an urgent need for dialogue between the architects of the debt exchange
and pension funds, which have a total of over 150 billion dollars in assets
under management.
A major debt exchange program between the
Jamaican government and the island’s financial sector will see interest rates
trending down to an average of twelve and a quarter percent from highs of up to
twenty-five percent.
Given the recent strong signals from the Government as it
regards lower interest rates, I asked President of the PSOJ, Joseph Matalon what
a concerted voluntary reduction in interest rates by the financial sector would
mean for the business sector and indeed the average Jamaican.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding has emphasized that if Jamaica is to extricate itself from the impact of the global recession interest rates have to be lowered but not by fiat.
BPM Financial launched its IRA dubbed 'Personal Pension' on July 13, 2010. It was a natural fit for a company which has been in the retirement-planning business for over fifteen years.
The Economy 