Jamaica experiences major economic growth since pandemic: PM Holness

Jamaica: In the recent 2024-2025 Budget Debate, Prime Minister Andrew Holness shared optimistic forecasts about Jamaica’s economy. He said that the country witnessed ten consecutive quarters of economic growth since the pandemic.PM Holness said that prior to the pandemic, the country had 20 consecutive quarters of economic growth and said, “This is the longest unbroken period of economic expansion since Independence.”While announcing this major development, the Prime Minister reiterated his commitment towards enhancing the country and its various sectors. He also talked about higher employment opportunities in Jamaica and said that more citizens have work today than any other time since independence and the unemployment is at a record low of 4.2%. Since 2016, over 156,000 new jobs have been created in the country. 

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PM Andrew Holness added, “We are the government that has actually put people first”, and cited several examples of development, which are as follows:

1. Tuition-free education was introduced, leading to nearly universal secondary education.
2. Free access to healthcare was implemented, resulting in improved health-seeking behaviour among Jamaicans.
3. Technical and vocational training became free at the Heart/NSTA Trust, leading to more than 120,000 young people registering since the fees were removed.
4. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted government plans and programs, leading to a redirection of efforts and allocation of more than $70 billion for pandemic response, including $40 billion for the CARE program. 
5. Despite several challenges, Jamaica has demonstrated resilience by withstanding the worst global health and economic shock in a century and recovering stronger than before.

In addition to this, PM Holness said that the multi-faceted approach taken by the Government including social transformational initiatives, strategic investments in technology and infrastructure, and legislative changes, is paying dividends with a major reduction in crimes which is the nation’s lowest crime rate recorded in 24 years. While talking about the tourism sector, he announced that the government will be upgrading work on another nine free community beaches this year. Beyond 2024-2025, the administration will work to develop the Boston Beach Park in Portland and a major beach park in Negril.