Clarke bids Parliament farewell, cautions against 'policy error'

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke bid farewell to Parliament on Tuesday, expressing a "full heart," cautioning against policy errors that he says will derail important progress in the country.

"This is a country built for much more than we already have," he said. 

The 53-year-old, who has been the minister since March 2018, was replying to an outpouring of adulation from government and opposition members of the House of Representatives. His resignation as Member of Parliament is set to take effect at midnight Tuesday. He is to take up a post as a deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund on October 31. 

"I thank Prime Minister Holness for the opportunity. It has been a wonderful journey and we have accomplished a lot with the parliamentary and the Cabinet teams together," he said, noting that his friendship with the head of government goes back to the 1990s. 

As he listed key achievements, Clarke said the "anchor" of Jamaica's sustainability is the lowering of Jamaica's debt-to-GDP, which is projected to reach 68 per cent by the end of this fiscal year in March 2025. He said that will be the lowest since the 1970s. 

"So, Jamaica has earned for herself the possibility of a new beginning and one that we must use wisely. We have today, as the prime minister mentioned, more sources of people wanting to lend to us than we could possibly take..." Clarke said. "What we have to work on for the next phase is to ensure that having got our debt down we want to change the competition of that debt from a majority US dollar debt to make it into more Jamaican dollar debt."

But Clarke also had a caution. 

"As much success as we have had, the path ahead does not allow for policy error because Jamaica's finances are so rigid and tight and so it can be maintained by the choices that we make and choices that consider today as well as tomorrow and important choices that leave enough space for public investment. It's only through public investment that we can improve quality of life," he said. 

According to the minister, the Holness administration has addressed concerns about income, through a raft of measures including a new salary system for public sector workers and a social pension for vulnerable groups. 

"What we have learnt is that income though necessary is not sufficient particularly for a country where many are on low incomes. If we focus on income alone we will not improve quality of life ...what transforms lives are public investments that improve the quality of public services," he said. 

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