Dear Editor,

There are those who claim to have glimpsed a light at the end of our economic tunnel. But chances are it is a light from the approaching austerity train.

Austerity brought the Greek economy to its knees and Jamaica is facing the same dilemma under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) austerity programme. Greece will, however, survive its economic depression because it is still an important cog in the European Union.

Unfortunately, Jamaica is an insignificant economy, the demise of which will not cause a ripple of concern in the world’s economy. A WordPress report reveals that, from the end of 2011 to the end of 2014, real wages have fallen 17 per cent and will continue to fall through 2015.

Concurrently, the IMF is dictating that the Government should undertake the impossible task of maintaining a budget surplus of 7.5 per cent while fighting to reduce a debt-to-GDP ratio of 140 per cent. We are in the throes of dealing with one of the most severe austerity programmes in the world that is dismantling our middle class. Without some form of debt relief our economy is on a railroad to collapse.

We are caught in a vicious cycle of borrowing to pay debt at the expense of growth, increasing unemployment, overwhelming crime and poverty. Several leading economists have concluded that austerity has crippled some economies in Europe. Our inability to service our debt, maintain growth in excess of three per cent, and attract large-scale investment will ensure prolonged economic chaos, a steady devaluation of our currency and social unrest. The long-term dependence on IMF borrowing and its austerity chains will stifle our economy even if we pass every IMF test.

R Oscar Lofters

Kingston 8

lofters1@aol.com