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Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies, has returned to the island after a series of meetings in Washington, D.C. Among meetings held by Minister Davies were ones with Mr. Larry Summers, Secretary of the US Treasury; Mr. James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank; Mr. Enrique Iglesias, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); and Mr. Stanley Fisher, Acting Managing Director of the IMF. He also met with several Executive Directors of the IMF, World Bank and IDB. Minister Davies took the opportunity to brief the officials on the performance of the economy over the last fiscal year. They acknowledged the gains achieved particularly when viewed within the context of the problems in the financial sector which had adversely affected the fiscal accounts, as well as general economic out-turn. In outlining the objectives for the medium term, the Minister indicated that attaining the target of a balanced budget, generation of growth and dealing with the Finsac debt were the priority objectives for the financial year. In this regard, both Mr. Iglesias and Mr. Wolfensohn indicated their commitment to assist Jamaica in its effort to arrive at a long-term solution to the financial sector problem. The Acting Managing Director of the IMF also confirmed that the Fund would move quickly to work with the Jamaican authorities to develop a Staff Monitored Programme (SMP). Arising from the discussions, a team of technical staff of the three institutions arrived in Jamaica on Thursday to commence work on the SMP. This will be the first step in preparing documentation for a loan presentation to the IDB Board by mid August. This will followed shortly after by a similar submission to the World Bank Board.
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