THE Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has criticised the Government for downplaying its failure to meet the Primary Surplus Target (PST) and its implications for the economy and the lives of Jamaicans.

Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness told a press briefing at the party’s Belmont Road headquarters Wednesday that the Government’s austerity measures are not working and will not work by themselves, as there is no growth strategy.

“What we have seen is an economy that is contracting, and people’s lives are getting worse,” Holness said.

The Opposition leader noted that the JLP has consistently stated that the primary surplus target was “urealistic and onerous” and poised for failure. He said that there were serious implications for health care, commerce and education, as well as the people’s ability to survive.

Chairman of the JLP’s Economic Advisory Commission (EAC), Aubyn Hill, noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeatedly made it clear that the centerpiece, “the mother of all targets”, in its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the Jamaican Government, is the primary surplus target of 7.5 per cent per annum.

Hill also pointed out that tax collections were “overly optimistic” and would further jeopardise the primary surplus target.

Opposition spokesman on finance and planning, Audley Shaw said that it should not be ignored that since the agreement with the IMF, primary surplus targets have been achieved at the expense of sharp reductions in government expenditure, and an annual raid on the National Housing Trust’s (NHT) resources, which should have been used for the construction of houses for people.

“And despite all of that, this is the anaemic growth picture that has emerged out of the performance of this Government,” Shaw added.

He stated that it is for these reasons that the Opposition has been consistently pointing out that the government is failing the people’s test.

“And a major component of failing the people’s test is the failure to grow the economy: Failing the test of economic growth, that is the giant elephant in the living room that we now face,” Shaw commented.

He said that the consequences of failing the growth test in the last budget included a $13.4 billion reduction in tax revenues, and over $11 billion dollar reduction in capital expenditure.

The IMF mission, currently visiting Jamaica, has indicated that its executive board will make a final decision in early June. Upon approval the island will gain access to a further US$40 million.

However, Uma Ramakrishnan, the IMF’s new mission chief for Jamaica, explained that the island missed a key revenue target which related to the nominal value of the primary surplus. But, she said that the primary surplus still met the critical target of being 7.5 per cent of the country’s output or gross domestic product (GDP).

“I think it’s a bigger concern for people in Jamaica than it is for us (at the IMF),” Ramakrishnan said of missing the nominal target, during a press conference at the Ministry of Finance and Planning on Tuesday.

— Balford Henry