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It has been brought to my attention that Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Mr Audley Shaw has, in his usual bombastic manner, attacked the Bank of Jamaica and the Planning Institute of Jamaica because of recently released estimates on the performance of the Jamaican economy during the period April through June. No doubt Mr Shaw's ire has been raised by the fact that these estimates point to continued growth in the economy this year compared to corresponding periods last year. I have had occasion to publicly reprimand Mr Shaw on the danger of his overly combative approach to professionals in state agencies when they fail to produce data in support of his narrow political agenda. However, Mr Shaw's latest outburst reflects either a high level of disingenuity or plain hypocrisy - worse yet, it could be a combination of both. He asserts that the estimates of economic performance provided by PIOJ for the April to June period are meaningless as STATIN is the only institution, which can produce the official data on economic performance. However, the hypocrisy is highlighted by the fact that Mr Shaw simultaneously condemns the inflation data produced by the same institution, STATIN, as not being consistent with his own "analysis". The public must judge whether there is any sincerity in Mr Shaw's commentary. What is certain is that if he feels compelled to address serious issues in this way, he will only force professionals in the public sector to question whether this is a worthwhile career choice to make.
Omar Davies
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