FINANCE Minister Fayval Williams says she is prepared to go to Parliament to argue for a much larger disaster insurance and contingency framework, as pressure grows for Jamaica to spend more upfront to protect itself from shocks like Hurricane Melissa.

Her response came during a pointed exchange with Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) economist Damien King on Thursday, who pressed whether the Government would be willing to justify significantly higher spending on disaster coverage — even if it meant committing more resources each year.

“Absolutely… as we look at new layers of instruments and what we set aside on a national basis, we are going to have to put more aside. We saw the need to provide relief right after the storm… and that tells you how important it is to have these buffers in place and to make them even bigger.” Minister Williams said during the Budget Breakdown 2026 forum held at The University of West Indies, Mona campus, under the theme ‘Paying for Hurricane Melissa’.

Dr King argued that while Jamaica has built out a structured disaster risk financing system over the past decade, recent events have exposed its limits.

Pulling from CaPRI’s estimates, he noted that when the various spending measures and revenue losses linked to Hurricane Melissa are combined, the fiscal impact runs into the tens of billions of dollars — with roughly $20 billion tied to recovery programmes and another $24 billion in support to Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) alone.

Yet, the country’s pre-arranged disaster financing tools covered only a fraction of that.

“The non-debt disaster risk framework accounted for less than a quarter of the total cost,” Dr King said, underscoring the gap between what was immediately available and what ultimately had to be financed.

“We need to buy more insurance,” he added, pointing to the shortfall that had to be filled through borrowing.

That gap became evident following the hurricane when payouts from insurance, contingency funds, and reserves — including roughly $25 billion from catastrophe and insurance facilities — were supplemented by loans from multilateral institutions to close the remaining financing need.

At the centre of the discussion is whether Jamaica should expand its use of parametric insurance — coverage that pays out automatically based on the intensity of an event — and increase the size of its financial buffers.

“We have put in place an impressive disaster risk framework… but when the hurricane hits we still scramble around for channels of relief. It’s time now that we do for relief what we have done for managing disasters — put in place an architecture that is ready before the event,” Dr King said.

He suggested that doing so would mean accepting higher upfront costs but argued that delaying that decision only shifts the burden.

“If you get more insurance, you pay a higher premium… if you build a bigger buffer, you have to set aside more every year. It is expensive at the time but the cost is going to be paid anyway. The question is not whether we can afford it… the question is: Do you pay it on an annual basis, or do you wait until the loss happens and then have to find it?” he reasoned.

Minister Williams, while acknowledging the competing demands within the budget, said the experience of Melissa has reinforced the need to strengthen those buffers going forward.

“We are going to have to put more aside because we saw the need to provide relief right after the storm. …And just to show you how important it is to have these buffers in place… when you have them and you stick to them it gives you the room to respond when these events happen,” she said.

The debate comes as Jamaica continues to balance reconstruction spending with efforts to maintain fiscal discipline and stabilise debt. Over the past decade the country has reduced its debt burden from nearly 150 per cent of GDP to around 60 per cent — a change Minister Williams said has been critical in maintaining investor confidence and creating space to respond to shocks.

“Our credit rating is our oil… it is our gold, and we have to protect it because there is a real cost if that changes,” she said.