Given Jamaica’s long struggle to economic stability, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has stressed the need for the country’s fiscal discipline to be maintained over the coming years.

With the country now in election mode, following the announcement last Tuesday that Jamaicans will vote on September 3, Clarke said that it should be an imperative for any party which forms the next Government to safeguard the gains made within the last few years.

“We are going to be investing in ensuring that the macroeconomic stability that we enjoy is preserved. We must protect this macroeconomic stability at all cost and with everything we have,” he said, while noting that though Jamaica is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has so far been able to navigate the challenges as a result of the buffers previously put in place by the Government, such as the building up of cash reserves, which are now being used to cushion effects.

He outlined some of the most important macroeconomic stability indicators as being financial sector stability, low stable inflation, adequate reserves in the central bank, and fiscal stability; all of which, he said, were also critical to the process of macroeconomic fiscal reform.

Clarke was speaking at the official launch of COK Sodality Cooperative Credit Union Limited’s new banking platform, Universa, on August 12 at The Courtleigh Hotel in St Andrew, and used the opportunity to commend the credit union movement for the invaluable years of service that it has given to the local financial sector.

“The credit union movement is a vitally important movement in Jamaica, with over $130 billion of assets and up to two million members. It is an indispensable sector and pillar of the economy. Along the lines of preserving macroeconomic stability, it has to be a sector that we protect, because in protecting this sector we are protecting the livelihoods of over two million members,” he said.

“This investment [Universa platform] that you are making at this time of uncertainty and a pandemic is a testimony to your long-term confidence in the country and more so a commitment to providing customers with best-in-class service,” he said.

“It is for this reason that Government has been pursuing the Credit Union Special Provision Bill, which is [now] with stakeholders in the credit union movement for review [with feedback from stakeholders expected in short order] for the Bill to later become law,” he further stated.

The finance minister said that with this Bill, credit unions will fall under the regulatory and supervisory framework of the Bank of Jamaica, which he deemed as a step in the right direction as it will provide credit unions with greater protection, strengthened operations, financial service stability, and more access to liquidity.

He said that the passing of this Bill will also enable credit unions to enjoy benefits similar to that of other financial institutions, under the deposit insurance scheme.

Based on the passing of a motion in the Senate on Wednesday, funds to this scheme were doubled from $600,000 to $1.2 million.

“What we want to do very shortly is to ensure that all or most of the two million members of the credit union movement are also covered by the deposit insurance with plans to increase the security of members in the movement by bringing them under the protection of this scheme,” Clarke explained.

Responding to a plea by COK’s Chief Executive Officer Aloun N’dombet-Assamba for credit union members to receive payment of National Insurance Scheme funds through their credit union accounts rather than commercial banks, Clarke said it was his hope for this to become a reality in the near future.

“If we are to have a competitive landscape, we can’t put all of the eggs in one sector. What we want ultimately is for individuals to choose, and wherever they choose we can direct. We don’t want to limit choice, as this limits competition,” he said.

“We just need to make the investments and implement the policies to make it effective — in the next term,” he added with a smile.