ROSE HALL, St James — Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips says Government is mindful of the hardships which the sliding dollar is causing for Jamaicans, but noted that all is being done to maintain a competitive exchange rate.

The Jamaican currency has depreciated by more than nine per cent against the United States dollar since the start of the year.

“I would not want to suggest that we are unaware of the pains of adjustments. Change does involve hardships. It does create concerns. But change is not occurring because anything has gone wrong. It is occurring because the country needs to make an adjustment in order to be able to produce more and to incentivise more and more to get into production,” the finance minister said yesterday.

He was addressing delegates at the 5th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Montego Bay Conference Centre in St James.

“The other point I simply want to make is that if you run the balance of payments deficit of US$1.5 billion — 15 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) — you cannot sustain that unless you earn more or you borrow. Borrowing is not an option. So there will have to be some orderly adjustments that incentivise the producer, especially those who are producing for exports. Our survival as a country depends on it,” he added.

The finance minister argued that the country needs to make an adjustment in order to be able to produce more and to motivate more people to get into production.

“Small enterprises, medium-sized enterprises, even micro enterprises can sell something to the tourist trade or elsewhere. We all want to start this engine of production in Jamaica and have it rev up to a level we have never seen before”.

He noted that one of the priorities of Government is to boost the Net International Reserves (NIR) in order to provide a safeguard against any “economic shock”.

“Because that will [be] the buffer against any shocks that might occur, whether they be climate related or any other economic shocks in the global environment. We have our reserves that have been depleted. We need to rebuild them,” he emphasised.

This year’s conference, which is being held under the theme, ‘A Nation on a Mission: Jamaica — Diaspora Partnership for Development’, seeks to build on the legacy of Jamaica 50, by exploring defined opportunities for the Diaspora to expand their business interests in Jamaica through increased trade and investment, large

and small.

More than 700 delegates are in attendance at the conference, which began on Sunday.

“Jamaica welcomes your contribution, your commitment and urge you to become involved in this engine of production that is starting to rev up in Jamaica,” Dr Phillips told the delegates yesterday.