Jamaica: PNP accuses JLP of dropping IMF programme

(Gleaner) – Opposition leader and President of the People’s national Party (NP), Portia Simpson Miller, says she is alarmed that the Government seems to have unilaterally abandoned its programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without telling the country.

Speaking at a press conference called by the party this afternoon, Simpson Miller said recent revelations by the IMF’s representative in Jamaica, have once again served to demonstrate the refusal of the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) Administration to level with Jamaicans.

The IMF representative has expressed concern that the stand-by agreement with Jamaica may be in trouble, as the government is yet to meet certain targets.

But Simpson Miller says the trust deficit in the government continues to grow as for the first nine months of this year the Government sought to convince the nation that the country had not failed the last IMF tests.

She says PNP is very concerned that the country has come to a standstill in its negotiations with the IMF.

Simpson Miller says her party’s Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP), fits within an overall growth strategy to take the country forward and will restore the hope of Jamaicans.

But she has not provided further details of the plan saying these will be revealed at the appropriate time.