OUTGOING Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke on Tuesday took his final bow to a standing ovation and applause from his parliamentary and Cabinet colleagues before departing the House of Representatives for the last time in that role.

Earlier there were heartfelt, moving tributes from Government and Opposition legislators, including his friend of more than 20 years, Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

“My heart is full,” Dr Clarke said when the lengthy salutations ended.

“Though you have your constituents, neighbours and friends, it’s a completely different thing when it comes to your peers and, of course, your leader,” he said as he expressed sincere gratitude and thanks to the prime minister and parliamentary colleagues for their tributes.

Dr Clarke is scheduled to leave the island early this morning to take up a deputy managing director post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC, United States, on Thursday.

The former Member of Parliament for St Andrew North Western said he is proud to have been a part of an Administration and to have led a ministry with a strong record of performance.

“In making my departure from not just a playing field, but from the stadium… I have run through the tape. You know, some people, you see your particular finish line and you ease up…People thought that when they heard August 26, when the announcement came, ‘Oh Nigel go ease up or that you’re gonna go off on some big holiday for three weeks,’ [but] that is not how the Government of Andrew Holness works. We believe in running through the tape and running through the finish line. That’s what I’ve tried to do… Running through the tape; it’s been a privilege and honour of my life,” he said.

In his tribute, Prime Minister Holness said Clarke was a special resource for Jamaica who has served with “great dignity, poise and confidence”.

He said that Dr Clarke has accomplished many feats which have served to realise practical changes in the country’s financial landscape.

“We have gone through nine budgets and we have not increased taxes; our reserves are at the highest levels they have been in decades. We have halved the national debt from 144 per cent of GDP to now 74 per cent of GDP. These are real things that have happened to transform our economy under the direction of Minister Clarke as the minister of finance,” he said.

He noted as well that Clarke presided over legislation to create an independent central bank, adding that it is this independence of the central bank that has made Jamaica probably the only country in the region with a free floating exchange rate.

“Dr Clarke spent quite a bit of his own time directly in the formulation of the Fiscal Commission. I think that he would call that one his baby, and the Fiscal Commission is an important institutional legacy that Dr Clarke will leave behind because it is the Fiscal Commission that will ensure that even if the political space has narrowed, that the policies to ensure the fiscal sustainability of Jamaica will remain. It is that institution that will take our fiscal affairs substantially out of the political domain,” he said.

Holness said Dr Clarke has also left a legacy of issuing the first international financial instrument denominated in Jamaican dollars.

“Nigel will be credited for something that we should have been doing long time ago. This man put the Jamaican dollar that some of us disparaged… on the international market for people to buy that instrument in Jamaican dollars. That’s a legacy, historic,” he said, while also pointing to other notable achievements such as the issuance of the catastrophe bond and the more than US$2 billion in public/private partnerships.

Holness said he was very pleased to have been associated with Dr Clarke and that he was very happy to have had the opportunity to work with him, to get all they have accomplished done.

“But I’ve always known that Nigel’s skills and his service are not always going to be locally focused. There are other countries that need to benefit from the experience of Jamaica. And it is indeed a distinct honour that that skill resided with us, and we now give that skill to the world,” he said.

In his tribute, Leader of Government Business in the House Edmund Bartlett described Clarke as one of the most distinguished individuals to have walked the halls Parliament and followed a long line of outstanding finance ministers.

He said Clarke had a remarkable run for the last six years “as an outstanding member of this Honourable House, an outstanding debater, an outstanding advocate of the people, and an excellent minister of finance”.

“This minister excelled himself in so many areas. His ascension now to the post of deputy managing director of the global financial institution of note, the IMF, marks a pivotal chapter in the history of not only Jamaica, but the Caribbean, as never before has there been a Caribbean native to hold such a high ranking position in the IMF. Both Jamaica and the Caribbean stand to greatly benefit from having one of our own serving in such an esteemed global position. It’s a small wonder that indeed your outstanding performance as minister of finance caught the attention of the IMF,” he said.

Bartlett said Holness played an important role in enabling “this young minister to excel in the way that he did, to give him the freedom, and the latitude to express his creativity and to show his financial wizardry in enabling some very innovative measures to be taken”.

Leader of Opposition Business Phillip Paulwell, meanwhile, said Clarke served with distinction and brought “high quality” and intellectual rigour to debates in the House.

“The member, despite one or two aberrations, has displayed tremendous stability and cordiality with his colleagues across the aisle and we want to recognise that,” he said.

Paulwell joked that the Opposition has been kind to Clarke because “he is from distinguished high pedigree PNP (People’s National Party) stock and it is still the hope that after his sojourn, and when he comes back, he might very well come back home”.

“We wish you well. Bon voyage. We know that you’re going to represent us well and, of course, on your return, we are going to be at the airport to give you our membership application form,” he quipped.

Government ministers Marlene Malahoo Forte, Desmond McKenzie and Dr Horace Chang, as well as Opposition MP Julian Robinson also praised Dr Clarke for his tremendous contributions to Jamaica.