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Letters to the Editor
No lack of transparency with IMF Stand-by Agreement
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Dear Editor,
I write in reference to an article written in the Sunday Observer of February 5 , "Jamaica and the IMF in 2012" by David Mullings.
Mr Mullings wrote, "The conditions of any IMF funding will need to be made public this time, and any issue with the test or lack thereof also needs to be transparent, unlike in recent memory."
I categorically declare as false Mr Mullings' assertion that there was lack of transparency with respect to the Stand-by Agreement (SBA) with the IMF. At all material times the conditions were a matter of public record, as well as the conditions agreed with all other multilateral institutions, namely the World Bank, the IDB, the CDB and the European Union.
Specifically in respect of the IMF/SBA, this was posted on the websites of both the IMF and the Ministry of Finance, inclusive of the list of qualitative and quantitative targets.
Further, on each occasion that the IMF concluded its review of the SBA, we held joint press conferences at the Ministry of Finance to furnish updates.
Indeed, when there were delays in the reviews, I made public statements, including a national radio broadcast, explaining the reasons for the delay in the reviews.
It is safe for me to assert that as minister of finance, I presided over an unprecedented level of transparency in the management of the country's fiscal affairs which was guided by a new Fiscal Responsibility Framework which was introduced in Parliament and supported by all our international development partners.
Mr Mullings should ensure accuracy in his writings if he is to maintain credibility as a columnist with the Observer. It's the least he can do.
Audley Shaw, MP
Opposition Spokesman on Finance and Planning,
Growth and Economic Development
Kingston
 
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2/7/2012
Of course you were transparent, Mr Shaw. It is just that the general public is ignorant of what transparent means. Don't worry though, you are in very illustrious company. You and Nelson on the spy plane, Holness on the Claro sale agreement and all those responsible for JDIP are epitomes of transparency. You are an inspiration to failing students everywhere: 'I am doing fine in school but the darn school keeps on postponing the tests, so I have nothing to show how good I am doing'.
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