Kristen Gyles | ‘Good news’ after all

The ‘good news’ opening budget debate presentation on Tuesday was admittedly a joy to listen to. It is great when the average Jamaican can listen to the presentation of the budget, follow along, learn a thing or two and form their own informed opinions. It is hard not to be impressed by the emerging trend of interesting and engaging budget presentations.

Of the 21 items of ‘good news’ that Finance Minister Fayval Williams shared, one in particular stood out to me as an undersold economic benefit of the general approach the government has taken. The focus on expanding the entrepreneurial sector to allow for the germination of more startups and increased growth amongst micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), is commendable.

Truth be told, the average university student is not thinking about the enterprise they can kick start once they complete their studies. The plot sold to today’s generation of adolescents and young adults is that they are to go to school and study really heard to get a quality education – not necessarily for their own intellectual empowerment – but so that they can build for themselves a thriving career that will make them a lot of money. This strategy works for some, I guess.

Traditionally, young people dream of building careers that see them either working for the government or working for some private enterprise out there. However, in 2025, with increasing technological advancements and increased globalisation and information sharing, there are so many business ideas floating around that simply need to be actioned. If we can shift the mindset of our youth to embrace entrepreneurship, not just as a ‘side hustle’, but as a viable career path, we can tap into more of these creative business ideas, which are now a dime a dozen. Any inertia exhibited by the growth rate of our entrepreneurial sector is not for want of business ideation. More significant barriers to successful entrepreneurship have been the insufficiency of startup capital and the inadequacy of market research by business owners.

WILLINGNESS TO ADDRESS

The government is demonstrating a willingness to address the former. In Minister Williams’ budget speech, she mentioned the allocation of $2 billion to the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) for on-lending to MSMEs. For context, the DBJ, which is wholly government owned, has been supporting entrepreneurs in various ways since its inception in 2000. The DBJ has issued both loans and grants of various sizes to startups and MSMEs and has also provided technical assistance. The DBJ has also been instrumental in initiatives like the National Business Model Competition, that incentivise the creation of start-ups. We are not sure exactly what amount of government assistance the DBJ has received in years past, but if the DBJ is able to continue doing what it has been doing for the past several years, the entrepreneurial sector will remain fairly well-supported.

The Jamaican entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Currently there are 422,000 registered small businesses that account for 80 per cent of jobs in Jamaica’s economy, according to the information shared by the Minister. Three years ago, there were less than 300,000 businesses on the Companies Office of Jamaica register. This goes to show that increasingly, many people, whether skilled, unskilled, educated or uneducated, are choosing the path of entrepreneurship. This path will help to create jobs, and as we all know, there is a dire need to expand the pool of jobs from one that seems to now be saturated with low skill, low wage opportunities.

INCENTIVISE INNOVATION

Another goal of the government, in addition to supporting MSMEs financially, should therefore be to incentivise greater levels of innovation and creativity as we strive to build out businesses that actually solve problems. As these innovative business ideas thrive and grow into conglomerates, they hire more people. This means more jobs, higher wages, and an increase in disposable income across the population. Ripple effect.

Investment lies at the heart of any economy and investment begins with access to capital. When businesses can secure loans more easily, they have the financial backing to expand their operations and develop new and novel products that we need as Jamaicans.

The minister also announced an increase in the GCT exemption for MSMEs from $10 million to $15 million. This will predominantly benefit micro businesses, which are considered to be businesses with five or fewer employees and $15 million or less in annual revenues. The government has also made a provision for accelerated capital allowances over a two-year period, for certain new investments in commercial buildings and machinery.

There has been a pretty consistent effort to strengthen the MSME sector and in that regard, we are on the right track. Good news, after all.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com