PERSPECTIVE: IT IS THE JAMAICAN PROPENSITY TO CONSUME THAT IS DRIVING THE ECONOMY
The Private Sector in Jamaica appears to be hoarding its capital in stocks and foreign exchange accounts in stead of massive reinvestment in the economy leaving the Gov’t no choice but to turn to the Jamaican Diaspora to pick up the slack without giving them the rights to vote.
Since 1976 Total Household Consumption in the Jamaican Economy averaging around 72% GDP of which Direct Remittance Investment (DRI) impact accounted for 53% of total consumption spending. Household Expenditure out paced Private Sector Investment (Capital Formation) by 4:1 which only accounts for an average of 23% of the same time period.
Current monetary policies administration by the Bank of Jamaican (BOJ) point to a very interesting investment framework in which private capital for economic development of the broader economy is held exclusively in an almost perfect asymmetry defined within the overlapping boundaries of investment returns between the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Foreign Currency Exchange (FX) market Spreads in a bidirectional movement.
Gov’t must seeks ways to unlock Jamaica’s private sector wealth to drive economic development beyond the confinement of equities and foreign exchange in the the broader economy.
by Silbert Barrett
Alwin Marshall-Squire is the Editor-in-Chief of S-Q Publications Inc., overseeing editorial strategy for GTA Weekly, GTA Today, and Vision Newspaper. He leads the publications’ mission to deliver bold, original journalism focused on the people and communities of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and the global Caribbean diaspora.
Also writes for GTA Weekly and GTA Today.
