( L - R ) Shaw and Davies

Shaw says Davies brought draft document to Parliament

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the performance of the Jamaican economy was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, but despite comments in the document that suggest "robust economic performance", the Opposition has downplayed the report, claiming the IMF board had not yet signed off on the paper.

Debating the first Supplementary Estimates in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Jamaica Labour Party Spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, accused his counterpart, Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, of taking a draft document to Parliament that had not been considered by the IMF board.

However, the report stated that the country's economic performance for the current fiscal year was "remarkably strong, with Jamaica on target this fiscal year to achieve its best growth performance in over a decade".

According to the IMF, real economic growth for the 2006/2007 financial year would be about three per cent, compared with two per cent for the previous fiscal year.

"This robust economic performance is being underpinned by the strength of the agricultural and tourism sectors," the report said.

The report reflects the preliminary findings of the IMF mission which visited Jamaica between February 5 and 16.

Dr. Davies, in his remarks, said the inflation outturn for the fiscal year would be little more than six per cent, adding that the figure for April to January stood at 5.9 per cent, the lowest in 13 years.

On another matter, he announced that the divestment of the Jamaica Public Service Company was far advanced and that several "world-class firms" had expressed an interest in acquiring the company.