Tuesday, March 03, 2020

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke has assured Parliament that there are contingencies in the 2020/21 budget to respond to any escalation in the coronavirus (COVID 19) threat to the Jamaica.

"We do have modest contingencies in the budget to respond, and the response would take the form of making sure, for example, that we have adequate facilities for quarantine, and to see that we have appropriate medication and so on," Dr Clarke said, responding to a question from Opposition spokesman on finance Mark Golding during today's review of the 2020/21 budget by Parliament's Standing Finance Committee (SFC).

But Clarke also noted that most issues currently related to the virus came up after the estimates of expenditure were tabled on February 11.

"We would have been prepared for those before the full extent of the crisis was known. Certainly the information we have today, none of that was available to us at that time. What I can say, however, is that the ministry has been paying close attention and we have kept in touch with the main ministries which would be affected, such as the tourism industry," he noted.

Dr Clarke said that post-budget, he has been in close contact with both the ministry and its overseas agents who have kept him informed on issues like the effect of the virus on bookings for this month and next month.

"All I can say is that the information which we have had up to yesterday, in terms of looking at the booking calendar up to the end of March and April, remains robust. But this could change quickly," he admitted.

"But we do have a sort of contingency that if the situation looks as if it might escalate in Jamaica, there are measures that we can take, and we are monitoring it very closely," Dr Clarke said.

The SFC of the House of Representatives began reviewing the 2020/21 budget at Gordon House this morning, and will continue into tomorrow, or until the task is concluded.

Balford Henry