KINGSTON, Jamaica — Finance Minister Audley Shaw says Opposition spokesman on finance Dr Peter Phillips has sought to “over-inflate” his achievements while in government, and has taken credit for far-reaching fiscal reforms for which he is not responsible.

Shaw, while closing the budget debate this afternoon, said much of Phillips’ achievements were as a result of his administration’s policies between 2007 and 2011.

“He lacked the graciousness to acknowledge that the most significant of these – the Fiscal Responsibility Framework – was embedded in law and was passed in this House on February 23, 2010 during my tenure,” Shaw told the House.

He chided Phillips for not acknowledging the work done on other reforms such as the Central Treasury Management System, the Omnibus Incentives legislation and the Charities Act, all of which he insisted were significant features of the Green Paper on Tax Reform, which he tabled in the House on May 10, 2011.

“But the Opposition spokesperson on finance has sought to over-inflate his achievements, claiming credit for things with which he had absolutely nothing to do,” he added.

Shaw said the then JLP Government had to deal with oil prices at US$145 per barrel, arguing that Phillips was “lucky” to experience oil prices of under US$30 per barrel.

“We had to deal with the world food crisis of 2008 in which food prices skyrocketed and led to food riots in several countries, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Indonesia, Mozambique, Senegal, Yemen and – just north of us – Haiti. He enjoyed a significant fall in prices for commodities like wheat, corn, soybean, and fertilisers – between 30 per cent and 40 per cent in last year alone, while we had to subsidise the cost of these imported commodities,” he said.