PRIME Minister Andrew Holness and World Bank Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean Axel van Trotsenburg yesterday announced a US$140-million financing package from the World Bank to “help Jamaica in building fiscal resilience, mitigating the financial impact of natural disasters, and strengthening social programmes for the vulnerable population”.

Holness and van Trotsenburg met today to discuss the World Bank Group’s partnership in support of Jamaica’s economic reforms, and its efforts to reduce disaster risks and promote youth-centred initiatives to strengthen human capital, a World Bank release said.

As part of the World Bank financing US$100 million will be delivered in the form of two budget support operations to create a new line of defence in the face of disaster risks, and US$40 million in the form of an investment operation for strengthening social protection and building human capital, the release said.

According to the release, van Trotsenburg congratulated Jamaica for its achievements in steadfastly implementing difficult economic reforms that are demonstrating commendable results with positive economic outlook, and he encouraged Jamaica to continue these efforts.

van Trotsenburg highlighted that Jamaica “stands tall as one of the few countries to have successfully cut public debt by the equivalent of half its gross domestic product in a short period”.

He especially noted the Jamaican experience as being marked by bi-partisan political support, citizen engagement and multi-stakeholder consensus.