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The negative comment in the Times newspaper on the proposal of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank to market a bond overseas has, not surprisingly, resulted in further questions being posed locally. These include an editorial in one of our daily news papers, entitled "Lay the cards open, Dr. Davies" as well as a letter to the Editor of the same publication from Mr. Bruce Golding, in which he asserts that the Ministry of Finance must have known what the JMB was doing, especially since the JMB is part of my portfolio responsibility. If Mr. Golding were not so anxious to score political points, he would have taken a little time to ascertain that the JMB does not fall under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance. In the context of the above, the public is entitled to have the fullest of information on the matter. The fact is that the JMB, through both the Chairman and the Managing Director, Mr. Hanson has raised, with the Ministry of Finance, the possibility of floating a bond, aimed at overseas Jamaicans, to be used to finance housing in Jamaica. It is also a fact that on various occasions, at both the official and Ministerial levels, the Ministry of Finance has sought to obtain details of the transaction being contemplated by the JMB. Furthermore, strict instructions were issued to the JMB not to proceed without the full authorisation and involvement of the Ministry of Finance. The attached copies of letters, one from Mrs. Carol Jones, Deputy Financial Secretary (Public Enterprises) and from me, speak for themselves. However, over and beyond those repeated warnings, it must be made known that a few weeks ago, following a report in the local press that the JMB proposed to launch such a bond, I spoke with Mr. Hanson on the phone. I questioned him about the news report and repeated my clear instructions. He said that the newspaper report was a misrepresentation of what he had told the reporter, and reassured me that no such offer was being made to the market. Following Mr. Hanson's verbal reassurance, I was most surprised to see the report of this latest mission. The Government of Jamaica has worked extremely hard to establish and improve our external credit rating. There could be no rationale in allowing unauthorised forays by institutions on the international market. As Minister of Finance, I accept the need for the establishment and enforcement of strict rules and penalties governing the behaviour of all public sector entities and officials in such matters. The instant case can be no exception.
Omar Davies
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