GAYLE, St Mary — Opposition spokesman on finance, Audley Shaw, says the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) better managed the economy during its four years in office than the People’s National Party was able to do in 28 years.

Addressing a large gathering of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters in Gayle on Tuesday evening, Shaw reminded the Labourites that the the JLP’s tenure in office, from 2007 to 2011, was marked by a global recession — the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

“We managed the country in the period of the world’s worst recession,” he said, noting that the JLP Administration was able to keep the dollar stable even then.

But he said that the contrast obtains under the ruling People’s National Party Administration (PNP), which has presided over the worst depreciation of the local currency during its tenures in office, in particularly now with the price of oil at an all-time low.

“Despite saving foreign exchange, they have not been able to keep the dollar stable,” Shaw said. “Since they have been in power, they have not been able to grow the economy to the stage they received it in 2012.”

Shaw said if the JLP wins the February 25 election, his party will rebuild the Jamaican economy. Among the items he outlined are a liveable minimum wage, tax credit for small business operators, and an increase in the income tax threshold.

“We have to find a way to give workers a decent living wage,” he explained, noting that an investment tax credit for small businesses would ensure that these businesses can pay their workers, while a higher income tax threshold would ensure that civil servants can pay their household helpers.