Think tank warns of the impact of IMF agreement

WASHINGTON, CMC:

AN INFLUENTIAL think tank says that Jamaica's economic and social progress has suffered considerably from the burden of unsustainable debt, and that even after the debt restructuring with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this burden remains "unsustainable and very damaging".

The Centre for Economic and Policy Research in a paper released in Washington said that pro-cyclical macroeconomic policies, implemented under the auspices of the IMF, have also damaged Jamaica's recent and current economic prospects.

"Jamaica is a clear case where the IMF and other international actors have put the economy in a straitjacket," said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research.