OPPOSITION Spokesman on Finance Audley Shaw said no large sum of money will be coming to Government's coffers when the new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is eventually signed, as the payout will only be the remainder of funds agreed on in the first deal with the Jamaica Labour Party-led Administration..

According to Shaw, when his Administration signed the standby agreement, only US$800 million of the agreed US$1.2 billion was disbursed.

"My credible information is that this new agreement that is negotiated, only the remaining US$400 million that is from the old agreement will be available in the new agreement," Shaw told journalists at a media briefing at the JLP's Belmont Road headquarters in Kingston yesterday.

As such, Shaw said the US$400 million will only be available to buttress the gross foreign exchange reserve but not the formal Net International Reserves (NIR).

Shaw also expressed concerns about the rapid decline in the NIR, noting that when the JLP Administration left office in December 2011 the reserves were just over US$2 billion, but that has now dropped to US$1.1 billion and falling at a rapid rate.

There is, however a need, Shaw said, for an early IMF agreement so that the doors of other multilateral agencies can be opened so Jamaica can get funding again.