Jamaica ready to exit IMF — Dr Ngouana

KINGSTON, Jamaica — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative, Dr Constant Lonkeng Ngouana, says Jamaica has made tremendous progress over the last six years and is now ready to exit its current arrangement with the organisation.

“Jamaica has reached a place where we don’t need to be here all the time. We are taking the back seat and Jamaica is in the driver’s seat… . With what Jamaica has achieved over the past six years, we believe Jamaica is ready to exit the IMF and run its own business,” he said.

Ngouana was speaking at a public forum at the Bethel Baptist Church on Monday.

Jamaica’s current programme with the IMF is scheduled to officially end in November. The country will, however, continue to benefit from technical assistance.

“When Jamaica exits the financial support of the IMF, there will still be that consultation, which we do for the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), all our member countries. But it is not going to be the same [arrangement] of setting the targets and monitoring,” Ngouana said.

“We will offer our advice through technical assistance and so on, but not the heavy monitoring,” adding that this is “a sign of maturity” and confidence in Jamaica’s ability to manage its own affairs.

In the meantime, Dr. Ngouana praised the efforts of successive Administrations, since 2013, to turn the Jamaican economy around, and noted the seamless continuity of the IMF programme across Administrations.

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