KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Public Sector Monitoring Committee (PSMC) will meet again today to deal with some crucial issues bearing on the government's efforts to reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by year-end.

The PSMC held its monthly meeting last week, but failed to deal with any of the major issues, such as tax and pension reform and public sector transformation.

Chairman of the committee, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Horace Dalley, was absent. Financial Secretary, Dr Wesley Hughes, led the discussions, instead, but stuck to minor issues.

The PSMC is expected to discuss issues including the announcement by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Peter Phillips, of plans to cut some 3,000 public sector posts later this month.

The committee has not signed off on public sector pension reform, tax reform or the transformation issue, either.

The PSMC normally meets on the last Thursday of every month, which means that last week’s meeting should have been the last prior to this month's visit of an IMF team.

Dr Phillips, earlier this week, reaffirmed the Government's commitment to finalising negotiations for a new agreement with the visiting IMF team by September 25, in order to have the proposals reach the IMF board before the end of December.

The PSMC comprises representatives of the Government and the trade unions, and meets on a monthly basis to discuss public sector industrial relations issues.

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