Still more good news

The good news just keeps on coming but sometimes it is easy to miss it amongst all of the bad news.  According to Brian Wynter, governor of the Bank of Jamaica, in financial year 2011 the Jamaican economy is expected to grow by 0 – 1 percent.  For a country that is undergoing the worst recession in decades and that no longer remembers what economic growth is, that is certainly good news.  I have been stressing that economic growth should be a priority of the government and goes hand in hand with fiscal responsibility.  Jamaica will not solve its current crisis by simply reducing expenditure because that will certainly create other problems.

Economic growth has to take place alongside fiscal responsibility so as to ensure that revenue is generated to provide assistance to those who are affected by expenditure cuts.  Reducing the size of Government entities for example will save significant amounts of money but it also puts large numbers of persons out of work.  However, if growth was to take place in the economy then this can help to provide alternative employment opportunities.  Similarly for those who are laid off and who lose their benefits such as health, economic growth can help to provide additional resources to fund the no fee policy at the hospitals and health centres.

Growing the economy will increase the government’s revenue intake helping to close the deficit and returning us to surpluses.  These surpluses can be used to reduce the country’s debt making more available to fund government services.  Of course 1 percent is not going to get the job done but it is another step in the right direction.  The long journey continues but we are one step closer, let us not become disillusioned but rather let us focus on taking the next step and then the next step.  The road ahead seems to stretch forever but it is amazing that after taking so many one steps that the end comes into view.  Perhaps if we all stop complaining and started thinking about how we can help we could all get to the end much sooner.  That kind of thinking is hard to find but it has the power to change the course of a nation and don’t we all want to be nation changers.