MINISTER of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw has described as “wild, mischievous and without substance”, the Opposition’s questioning whether the country has done enough to pass the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) test.

“In fact, in questioning the status, the former minister is attacking not only the Government of Jamaica, but the IMF,” Shaw said in a release issued last night.

He was reacting to comments made by Opposition spokesman on finance Dr Peter Phillips on the political hustings last weekend, suggesting that the Government has only received a “conditional pass” in terms of the just-concluded 13th test of the country’s performance under the extended fund facility (EEF) with the IMF.

Speaking at a People’s National Party divisional conference in St Mary over the weekend, Dr Phillips asserted that, based on the language used by the IMF’s recent mission to Jamaica, the fund had only given a “conditional pass” of the test.

But Shaw responded that Phillips was being “reckless, irresponsible and infantile” in his assertion.

He suggested that, as a former minister of finance, the Opposition spokesman should “comport himself in a responsible manner, lest he brings Jamaica into disrepute”.

An IMF mission, led by Uma Ramakrishnan, that was in Jamaica from August 9 to 19 to conduct discussions on the 13th review, said the “programme implementation under the EFF remains strong — all quantitative performance targets through end June were met, with tax revenues exceeding expectations, and structural reforms are well in train”.