Minister of state in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Fayval Williams, says as at the end of March 2017, the country’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio was at 115 per cent.

“Looking forward, the projection is for the Debt/GDP ratio to be at 108.6 per cent at the end of this fiscal year 2017/18 and at 89.5 per cent by the end of fiscal year 2019/20,” she said.Williams was making her contribution to the 2017/18 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, recently.She noted that the figure was achieved through the consolidation of the Central Government debt with the public bodies debt at the beginning of the 2017/18 financial year.She noted that it excluded the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) debt, in keeping with international standards.She said the figure was consistent with the Public Sector Debt Statistics Guide, developed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).“Of significance, this consolidation now allows us to net off any cross-holdings among the various entities,” Williams said.She noted that this was just one of a number of targets set by the ministry as part of the public bodies reform, which is moving in the right direction.Williams also reiterated the ministry’s commitment to reducing the Government’s wage bill and lowering pension costs to shift Jamaica’s limited fiscal resources to productive spending.The ratio of Jamaica’s stock of public debt-to-GDP was reduced to 120.2 per cent as at March 2016, better than the projected 125.1 per cent set under the economic support programme with the IMF, according to data from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.It was also a considerable improvement over the 136.6 per cent at the end of March 2015, when Jamaica one of the highest ratios globally after Greece and Japan.