The destruction of the Jamaican economy,almost completed !

What Michael Manly started in the 1970’s ,  PJ Patterson fine tuned in the 1990’s to 2000’s will now certainly be completed by Portia Simpson Miller (if she survives) between now (2013) and 2016( if it  takes that long).

I am talking  about the destruction of the Jamaican economy. I heard businessman Omar Azan who sounded so frustrated saying ” I am ready to pack up and head to Trinidad and apply for membership of the Trinidad Manufacturing Association because at least that Government appears to know what it takes to create an environment suited to support manufacturing”.

Another businessman who at this point in time shall remain nameless said  ” This is the most hostile environment I have ever seen doing business in Jamaica. Not only are senseless tax killing us, high energy cost is crippling our business and the final nail in the coffin is the precipitous slide in the value of the Jamaican dollar, which is one of if not the worst rate of decline that I have ever witnessed. Now we cannot even get foreign exchange to pay for goods that we have purchased to keep our business afloat and many I know have to be looking to pharmacist to get much needed US $ “.

As I reflected on all this , I could not help but wonder how many other business owners are suffering in silence and just praying and hoping that we get an IMF deal so money can flow into the economy and slow the hemorrhaging  of the Jamaican dollar.

Financial Analyst Dennis Chung said last night on CVM that this fallacy being mooted around about the slide in the Jamaica dollar is good for exporters is just the figment of someone’s imagination. He said” in a Jamaican environment were upwards of 70% of the inputs into the manufacturing process is imported, a rising dollar only serves to increase cost of manufacturing  which in terms increases the price of the goods for exports.”

What this in effect does is either (a) forces the manufacturer to “eat” the increases or (b) increase prices of the items available for export. If he chooses for example to do  (a) he would not last too long and if he does (b), then either his customers will take less goods or look to another supplier, so either way he gets screwed.

Mr Chung went unto say ” In the USA ECONOMY for example where most of the inputs are local, a weak dollar is good for that economy”.

Mr Chung further added ( what I think most people believe to be true ) ” The Jamaican economy as long reached its taxable limit and any news taxes package only serves to provide diminishing returns “.

How is it that everyone excepts the Government and its band of high priced consultants seems to know this?  As one man said ” Don’t tax people more, tax more people”

The PNP party and its failed policies have wrecked Jamaica and brought the country to the brink. Peter Phillips may be a bad finance minister, but he certainly understands Portia Simpson Miller better that most of us and so when he predicted that should Portia win the election in 2007             ” Jamaica would become the next Haiti in the Caribbean”, he was not trying to demean her , he was simply being truthful.

The Jamaican electorate delayed that prediction by 4 years, when they turned to the JLP in 2007 but frustrated with the pace at which the economy was moving and lack of ” eat a food opportunities , they turned over Jamaica to Portia to complete the process of completing the destruction and making Peter Phillips prediction a reality.

Peter should do the right thing and save what little credibility he has left, by walking away after “successfully” completing the IMF agreement negotiations.

He may just be able to salvage what is left of his political career, when the calls get louder for the resignation of  the Prime Minister and her entire cabinet for gross mismanagement and incompetence and calls for fresh elections .

( a friend’s response when I sent her the post before it was published)

Ok Jay wake up man, A Jamaica dis, dat last part a weh u write will NEVER happen inna Jamaica. Memba say a Portia u a chat bout eno and all she haffi do is get up and tell d people dem say she ago make dem eat a food but a Peter mashup d economy and she did tell im say not to agree wid some a d IMF  demands but im nuh listen. 

She ago say now dat d IMF deal sign she nah go can do nuttin bout it and so we fi bear wid har until the expiration of d deal and then tings ago b better because once dem nuh haffi follow d IMF dictates dem can do tings dat IMF neva want dem fi so and so now  nuff food ago run.

KD Knight had warned that the PNP government cannot afford to fail as there was no alternative. What I failed to have picked up at the time was that KD Knight as foul mouth as he maybe had carefully laid down a loaded statement. Recall he has gone on record as saying PSM is not capable or competent and he said a lot more than that at the time.

His choice of words therefore were very carefully thought out and expressed, but KD would have known that such warning to a leader who thinks so much of herself and her capabilities would not have amounted to much. The message was really for the people around her who were being warned to perform and reign her in.

Bless.