KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, is hailing the Government for its effort to improve Jamaica’s economic outlook.

Lagarde commended Jamaica for stabilising the macroeconomic climate, reducing its debt levels, setting fiscal precedence for the rest of the region and increasing the rate of employment.

“The resolve of the Jamaican authorities… has been critically important to arrive at those successful results,” she said in an interview on the JIS television programme, ‘Issues and Answers’, yesterday.

“In addition, civil society engagement through the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) has also been critical to turn the Jamaican economic situation into an attractive proposition for those who want to invest,” Lagarde noted.

The IMF managing director said that “with the economy now stabilised, the fiscal situation much improved, and the debt going down very rapidly, there needs to be a focus on efficient public spending in order to invest where there will be growth.”

She noted that the private sector must also be encouraged to invest in areas that are being targeted for growth.

Lagarde participated in the one-day IMF 2017 High Level Caribbean Forum held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on November 16.

Today (November 17), Lagarde will hold bilateral talks with the Prime Minister Andrew Holness, and will also meet with the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Peter Phillips, and women leaders.

She will also visit the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) where she will participate in a book launch and an interactive session with students.