Was Peter Phillips really on CVM TV

[Muadib]

lol !

[Sir X]

Suh yuh expect me to refer anyone back to the duppy dat gave jamaica and others horror stories in the past, i should foregore all rational emotional thoughts of fear , for more probable abuse.

Diss backra master is right colonial illogical thinking is deep,save our souls.You must be thinking along the same lines that the IMF helped Brazil out of its 40 year recession.

[Karl]

Phillips says more issues to be fixed before IMF deal

Phillips says more issues to be fixed before IMF deal

Published: Saturday December 29, 2012 | 4:09 pm



Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips - File Photo

The Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips appears to be conceding that a letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not possible before year end as he had promised.

In a release issued a short while ago, Phillips said the Government is still working to conclude the negotiations to the mutual satisfaction of Jamaica and the Board of the IMF.

"This agreement must be in the best interest of Jamaica and provide protection for the most vulnerable," he said in a statement he promised would have been issued by Monday.

According to Phillips, there are two main issues yet to be settled: the approach and timetable for a comprehensive policy on tax waivers and incentives; and safeguards against fiscal slippage this fiscal year.

He says following the conclusion of the negotiations, the Cabinet will have to undertake certain actions and there will have to be consultations with local stakeholders.

“The completion of these will determine the timing of the IMF Board’s approval,” Phillips said.

He also sought to justify the length of time it has taken to reach a deal.

“The time that is being taken to reach agreement is not unusual and there are complex and weighty issues at stake which will determine the future prospects of our country,” he said.

See full statement below:

On assuming office, one of the most urgent priorities of this administration was to reopen the line of communication with the IMF and negotiate a new agreement that would satisfy the interest of Jamaica’s economic recovery as well as the Board of the IMF. At the outset, my stated objective was to bring these negotiations to a satisfactory conclusion by the end of December 2012 and my negotiating team has worked assiduously to meet this deadline.

With the approach of this deadline I regard it as an obligation to provide the nation with an update. The primary objective of these negotiations with the IMF is to develop a multi-year economic programme that could be supported by the Board of the Fund and other multilateral institutions. This multi-year programme is intended to address the lack of long-term growth and provide the best options for Jamaica.

Discussions have moved from diagnosis by way of an Article IV consultation, which was concluded in May 2012, to agreement on the key challenges to growth that need to be overcome, the areas of economic policy available to the Government and some broad measures of success over a four to five year period.

Over the past two months discussions have intensified with the visit of senior officials to Washington and while many of us enjoyed the holidays, the negotiating team worked throughout the Christmas period including email and telephone exchanges with Fund staff as recently as 28th December. The Government is working to bring the negotiations to a conclusion that is mutually satisfactory to Jamaica and the Board of the IMF. This agreement must be in the best interest of Jamaica and provide protection for the most vulnerable.

The final stage of the discussion centered on the challenges of halting the debt accumulation process, raising economic efficiency in both the private and public sectors and creating the conditions for self-sustaining growth. Consequently, there has been extensive and thorough exploration of the size, range and scope of the public sector and all the elements that contribute to the persistent fiscal deficits. These include, a) tax policy (which activities are taxed, at what rate and which are exempted); b) staff costs (wage rates, pension obligations and staff size); c) interest costs (borrowing terms, sources and management); d) efficiency in procurement and cash management; e) capital expenditure (prioritization, partnership, divestment); and f) how best to protect the most vulnerable in the face of the changes to prices and incomes that flow from every adjustment in economic policy.

The discussions have, therefore, required technical studies of the repercussions of policy changes and have meant intensive deliberations to overcome differences of view on appropriate measures, impact, exceptions, timing and significance. The process of arriving at agreement has also had to contend with fairly recent memories among Jamaica’s multilateral partners of dishonoured commitments and disappointing performance. Thus, even where we agree in principle about what has to be achieved by the end of the first year of a programme, there is an instinctive insistence on the part of the IMF that as much as possible should be done up front. For example, the implementation of major tax reform was a large downpayment that signaled the commitment of the Government to raise the primary surplus (revenue less non-interest expenditure) by more than 3 per cent of GDP, an unprecedented single year adjustment, even though it meant delaying the budget presentation to allow for time to prepare.

Similarly, up front implementation is being sought for a number of other proposed reforms. The Government has, therefore, invested great effort in advancing pension reform, wage negotiations, reducing the effective size of the public sector establishment, tax administration, introduction of a centralized treasury management system and various pieces of enabling legislation such as the Public Debt Management Act and regulations governing the Fiscal Responsibility Framework.

Remaining Issues

The discussions with the Fund technical staff are virtually at an end. In light of the Fund’s negative assessment of the world’s economy, there is a need for Jamaica to programme steeper debt reduction and buffers in order to maintain a robust downward trajectory in the debt ratio through to 2020. The last issues on which we are now actively focused include; 1) the approach and timetable for a comprehensive policy on tax waivers and incentives, and 2) safeguards against fiscal slippage in this fiscal year and the examination of even higher primary surpluses in the medium term to underpin targets for debt reduction.

Following conclusion of the negotiations, there will be prior actions to be undertaken subject to the approval the Cabinet and the necessary consultations with local stakeholders. The completion of these will determine the timing of the IMF Board’s approval.

The time that is being taken to reach agreement is not unusual and there are complex and weighty issues at stake which will determine the future prospects of our country. There is no doubt also that the continued implementation of economic reform is going to require commitment and sacrifice by all Jamaicans. Progress along this pathway will require fundamental changes in our normal operational patterns. We will have to be more efficient and more diligent in how the state operates and how we facilitate investors in order to create the better jobs and higher levels of economic growth which together promise a better future for Jamaica and its people.

Even as we issue this update, negotiations are continuing with the IMF to arrive at an agreement that is beneficial to the people of Jamaica.

- Peter Phillips, Minister of Finance and Planning

[Mosiah]

I would love for Assasin to show us a similar statement by One Turd when the deal had stalled during his tenure.

No long talking, just point us to the link.

Thanks in advance!

[Lazie]

I would love for Assasin to show us a similar statement by One Turd when the deal had stalled during his tenure.

No long talking, just point us to the link.

Thanks in advance!

Yuh nuh know how fi use google? Shaw addressed Parliament as well as the nation. Obviously you didn't want to hear.

[Mosiah]

Sass found every other irrelevant article. Find di one fi prove him point nuh!

Yuh cyaan help him?

[Karl]

Officially, Jamaica's borrowing agreement with the International Monetary Fund ends in six months, but technically, the pact has been stalled for more than a year while Jamaica tries to cobble deals over the sale of a loss-making asset, the public wage bill and job cuts, and tax policy.

First and foremost it was obvious why the agreement stalled. What has Peter done to regularize it? His leader promise it in two weeks. What happen he said there is NO STICKING POINT and it would be done soon. At this point he has NO ONE TO BLAME.

"
"No, the agreement has not been breached, in the sense that we have just not completed the reviews," Terrier told the Financial Gleaner during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington. "And you have to, perhaps, know that some of these aspects of a programme review are looking backward, but some of them are also looking forward."

Technically no test was failed then, certain things needed to be done. There was a timetable for tax reform, pension reform, and some public sector reform. Shaw took a while but the civil servants had to buy in. The fact is Peter came in and and choose not to do any of these reforms until two months ago and think he would complete IMF deal(that was ridiculos) on his part. Certainly this is not what he promised anybody else you would be SHOUTING Liad from the top of the roof.

I can clearly reameber unnu saying Shaw to get over what Omar did and get on with it(how things change?). Every sector in Jamaica knew what needed and still needed to be done but now it is getting worst with the slide of the dollar and the government collecting much less taxes and we exporting less over the last year.

IMF should have been Peter Phillips single priority over his first six months in office to get some stability instead he only started negociated a deal in september.

What is wrong with the above?
What was meant by "only started negotiations since September"?


Explain to me what is this about

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=34774

Nothing wrong in the above comments as reported said by Peter!

and this that failed
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...business1.html

The above is contingency planning. It is to be used as necessary...and you must have realised that the target date and amount is "open". Peter not having 'pulled the trigger'/actually gone to market...certainly has not decided on target and timing..how can you label a floating of a bond that has not been done a failure?

and this
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/IMF-talks-on-track

Please refer to Peter's statement - http://www.reggaeboyzsc.com/forum1/s...826#post398826



and come back to me.[/quote]

[Lazie]

Sass found every other irrelevant article. Find di one fi prove him point nuh!

Yuh cyaan help him?

Whats the use? You will still deny it being a typical comrade. Use Google like everybody else.

[Mosiah]

A him a try prove a point. Why me must do it fi him?

A wha dis?!?

[Lazie]

A him a try prove a point. Why me must do it fi him?

A wha dis?!?

Well the FACT is he is correct. As usual you have no clue. Then yuh object when referred to as low information voter.

[Karl]

Sorry Sass - had to run away for a while. Here is the final

part of my response:

and come back to me.

Guess I have to remind you that we have had IMF agreements in the recent pass and "we are, where we are"! ...and for all of those agreements there has been no meaningful sustainable growth. All the agreements some will say brought short-term pain...however, if we conclude that the situation we are in now is painful then many should agree that those IMF agreements have had us traveling with long-term pain.

It behoves us to at the very least be deliberate on thinking through solutions and exactly what riders/terms to accept as we embrace another IMF agreement. We should know exactly the intensity pain and there must be an end point of appreciable gain.

We could have been said to have 'raced' into past arrangements with the IMF and we have been paying the price. Let us be as deliberate, thoughtful and wise this time around. Let us seek then embrace our best options.

[Bricktop]

We don't need to borrow from the IMF...you just posted the article stating why we do not need to...remember