Holness claims cost of living would double under PNP
Published:Tuesday | October 17, 2023 | 12:10 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Andrew Holness is urging the electorate against disposing of his administration, asserting that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is the better steward of the economy, even as inflation tightens the screws on the pockets of many Jamaicans.
“While it is a difficult time, and we understand, and we are doing what is necessary to get us through this difficult time, it is not a wise move to even consider allowing the PNP (People’s National Party) to even put a hand on the management of the economy,” Holness warned on Sunday.
He was delivering the main address during a JLP meeting in Clarendon North Central where he stressed the need for Jamaicans to continue with his Government for a third term.
His comment also comes ahead of the pending local government election, due by February.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week downgraded its growth outlook for Jamaica amid an expected decline in global economic activity over the next two years.
The IMF projected a 2.2 per cent growth for Jamaica earlier this year but has since said the local economy is set to grow by two per cent by the end of 2023.
Slower growth has also been projected by the international lending institution for 2024 at 1.8 per cent, a 0.2 per cent downward revision.
The World Bank only days earlier upgraded its outlook for Jamaica, with expected growth for this year at 2.3 per cent.
“As your party leader and your prime minister, I have to advise you and tell you, and I have to speak generally to the country, don’t give up certainty for uncertainty,” said Holness.
FEELING THE BITE
He said recent visits, both to the United Kingdom and the United States, revealed that citizens of both countries were also feeling the bite of cost of living and high inflation rates.
However, he said his Government has been able to manage the problem better than developed countries and is aiming to get inflation below six per cent.
Holness sad that, at that rate, Jamaicans will be able to afford goods without jeopardising their welfare.
“When people are complaining to you about the cost of living, as if to suggest that another government could manage the cost of living better than this government, the only thing you need to do is refer them to history,” Holness said while speaking at Clarendon College in the constituency.
“No amount of lies and rumours can take the historical fact that under the PNP government inflation and cost of living is twice as high under any Jamaica Labour Party government,” he asserted.
He said both major political parties have spent equal years governing the country but that Jamaicans have suffered from high inflation rates under the PNP.
“So, when I hear people talking about cost of living, yes, it may be high but say ‘Thank God it is under the Jamaica Labour Party’, because if it was ever under the PNP it would be double what it is now,” he stressed, insisting that the high inflation now is as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The recently released findings of an RJRGLEANER Group-commissioned Don Anderson poll revealed that 29.5 per cent of Jamaican voters indicated a preference for the opposition PNP versus the 26.1 per cent who said they favoured voting for the JLP.
Those who have not yet made up their minds accounted for 23.8 per cent of respondents, while 20.6 per cent said they will not vote.
The margin of error, in the survey carried out by the Don Anderson-led Market Research Services Limited, is plus or minus three per cent at the 95 per cent confidence level.
A total of 1,010 Jamaicans participated in the national survey.
Matched against similar polls conducted on behalf of the RJRGLEANER Group by Anderson and team in 2022 and 2021, the PNP has increased its favourability by approximately 12.5 percentage points.
The JLP, when compared to 2022, saw its favourability decline by 4.9 percentage points but is on equal footing in comparison to 2021.