Strong economy vital to build resilience against shocks – Williams

Building a strong and competitive economy is critical to building resilience against economic shocks, says Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Fayval Williams.

“Resilience, so far, has meant ensuring that we have buffers against natural disasters, and over the last 10 years we have been building that resilience. We have a very robust, layered approach to ensuring we have available to us resources in time of distress/natural disaster distress. That is one of the ways we have built resilience in the economy,” she said.

Williams was addressing the recent Cumax Wealth Management Spring Investment Forum, held at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston.

With the announcement of changes in tariffs globally, Minister Williams said there is heightened volatility in global markets, particularly in stock and bond markets.

“Those markets impact confidence in real time. They impact the market outlook and they cause persons and businesses to recalibrate,” she pointed out.

She said that in a rapidly changing global environment, the Government has been taking proactive steps to prepare for external economic shocks.

“It is in this spirit that this administration has pursued policies, fiscal responsibility, debt sustainability and economic modernisation, not only to manage the trade-related risk we face today but to position Jamaica to thrive in the future economy,” she said.

“Another way that we built resilience is in our fiscal affairs, to ensure that we are spending within our means, we are not running budget deficits and that we keep our eyes on the fiscal balance,” Williams noted.

The minister emphasised that the task ahead as an independent economy is to ensure that “we keep our economy open, that we are competitive and that we continue to build resilience in our economy”.

The Cumax Wealth Management Spring Investment Forum was held under the theme ‘Trade Winds or Trade Woes: The Tariff Effect on Jamaica’s Economy’.

– JIS