Residents of Maryland, a rustic community in east rural St Andrew, came with high anticipation last Thursday to hear co-chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Keith Duncan explain elements of the Government’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but they didn’t just come to listen.
At a Gleaner On The Corner Forum in the community, residents wanted to know how the IMF deal would improve their lives, and they wanted the details without any of the economic terms usually used in discussing the IMF.
Duncan was up to the task as he explained the ABCs of the programme.
Joel Ferguson was first to bowl at the EPOC co-chairman as he wanted to know what would happen for the residents of Maryland and other grass-roots Jamaicans when the current programme comes to an end in three years.
“We want to have growth levels anywhere between three and five per cent. When we say the economy, we mean all the goods and services – manufacturing, distribution, bar, everything – all the services that make up the economy. We want to grow the economy so that you can get the jobs you need,” explained Duncan.
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