Talk:Economy of Jamaica

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This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): JRiffenburgh. Peer reviewers: JRiffenburgh.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 20:06, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled
Jamaican Government economic policies encourage foreign investment in areas that earn or save foreign exchange, generate employment, and use local raw materials. The government provides a wide range of incentives to investors, including remittance facilities to assist them in repatriating funds to the country of origin; tax holidays which defer taxes for a period of years; and duty-free access for machinery and raw materials imported for approved enterprises. Free trade zones have stimulated investment in garment assembly, light manufacturing, and data entry by foreign firms. However, over the last 5 years, the garment industry has suffered from reduced export earnings, continued factory closures, and rising unemployment. This may be attributed to intense competition, absence of NAFTA parity, drug contamination delaying deliveries, and the high cost of operation, including security costs. The Government of Jamaica hopes to encourage economic activity through a combination of privatization, financial sector restructuring, reduced interest rates, and by boosting tourism and related productive activities.

-- The given information above, which is also on the article's front page, does not appear to provide a given source. It is difficult to double-check this information if the source has not been given. While this information may be correct, it shouldn't be in the article without a proper citation. JRiffenburgh (talk) 02:10, 9 November 2017 (UTC)Jriffenburgh

IMF
More should be said about loans, the banana industry, the social problems caused by IMF loans as well as the other side of the story of the free trade zones...--86.104.203.91 22:44, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Ney York? I think the opening line should be Jamaica....

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Economy of Jamaica
Hello,

I am doing a paper on the Jamaican economy & I have been referring to the Wikipedia page entitled "Jamaica" for information. I make reference to the following portion of it:

"Recent economic performance shows the Jamaican economy is recovering. Agricultural production, an important engine of growth increased 15.3% in third quarter of 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997, signaling the first positive growth rate in the sector since January 1997. Bauxite and alumina production increased 5.5% from January to December, 1998 compared to the corresponding period in 1997. January's bauxite production recorded a 7.1% increase relative to January 1998 and continued expansion of alumina production through 2009 is planned by Alcoa.[96] Jamaica is the fifth largest exporter of bauxite in the world, after Australia, China, Brazil and Guinea. Tourism, which is the largest foreign exchange earner, showed improvement as well. In the third quarter of 1998, growth in tourist arrivals accelerated with an overall increase of 8.5% in tourism earnings in 1998 when compared to the corresponding period in 1997. Jamaica's agricultural exports are sugar, bananas, coffee, rum,and yams.

Jamaica has a wide variety of industrial and commercial activities. The aviation industry is able to perform most routine aircraft maintenance, except for heavy structural repairs. There is a considerable amount of technical support for transport and agricultural aviation. Jamaica has a considerable amount of industrial engineering, light manufacturing, including metal fabrication, metal roofing, and furniture manufacturing. Food and beverage processing, glassware manufacturing, software and data processing, printing and publishing, insurance underwriting, music and recording, and advanced education activities can be found in the larger urban areas. The Jamaican construction industry is entirely self-sufficient, with professional technical standards and guidance.[97]

Since the first quarter of 2006, the economy of Jamaica has undergone a period of staunch growth. With inflation for the 2006 calendar year down to 6.0% and unemployment down to 8.9%, the nominal GDP grew by an unprecedented 2.9%.[98] An investment programme in island transportation and utility infrastructure and gains in the tourism, mining, and service sectors all contributed this figure. All projections for 2007 show an even higher potential for economic growth with all estimates over 3.0% and hampered only by urban crime and public policies.

In 2006, Jamaica became part of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) as one of the pioneering members.

The global economic downturn had a significant impact on the Jamaican economy for the years 2007 to 2009, resulting in negative economic growth. The government implemented a new Debt Management Initiative, the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) on 14 January 2010. The initiative would see holders of Government of Jamaica (GOJ) bonds returning the high interest earning instruments for bonds with lower yields and longer maturities.The offer was taken up by over 95% of local financial institutions and was deemed a success by the government. Owing to the success of the JDX program, the Bruce Golding-led government was successful in entering into a borrowing arrangement with the IMF on 4 February 2010 for the amount of US$1.27b. The loan agreement is for a period of three years. [99]"

The article was updated a few days ago, however it appears as though no recent information was added, especially for the last three years. May Jamaicans are not of the view that recent economic performance shows the Jamaican economy is recovering. But after the article mentioned that, I was expecting it to now discuss what has been happening recently & it went back to information from the 90s. Secondly, it speak about the bauxite industry as if it's thriving. The bauxite industry has been in a state of ruins for years. Many jobs were lost as a result, and some of those who were employed in the sector have found job opportunities abroad. I don't know if the tourism sector has "improved" since a few hotels have closed their doors putting many out of jobs. Additionally, Jamaica has been plagued by high levels of crime increasingly, which is a major deterrent for tourists. Thirdly, there is almost no way that Jamaica has to-date experienced "staunch growth since 2006" and employment and inflation rates are down. Many many persons have lost jobs, and the dollar is continually sliding to ridiculously high amounts. The article also spoke about the JDX in 2010, but there have been recent unfoldings with the IMF and the citizens of Jamaica are very uneasy and uncomfortable with these arrangements made by the government. I hope this will help in reviewing and improving this article.

Regards,

Sanderson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.112.88 (talk) 05:36, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

Possible Vandalism
GDP      $2000.18 zillion (3012 est. PPP) These might be typos; I wasn't sure whether to include "PPP" although I don't recognize the initials. I also didn't examine the rest of the page for more like them. Dick Kimball (talk) 14:06, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

GDP by sector   agriculture: 6.6 %; industry: 29.9%; services: 63.5% (201 est.)

OK, here's more, including the line feed in 6.6%. Dick Kimball (talk) 14:57, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Average Income
Hi! There's something on this article that is baffling me and decided to create an account on here just to confirm that this is right or maybe get some clarification.

In the sidebox it says the average gross (presumably monthly) salary is 272,604 Jamaican dollars. This converted to USD would be $2,353. However, the 2012 gdp per capita is stated to be $9,199, which divided by 12 (months) comes to just $767. I know gdp per capita and average income aren't exact equivalents, but what I fail to grasp is how the latter could be more than three times the former!

Furthermore, if one visits the citation for average income, it seems to in fact give 152,971 JMD as the average monthly salary, although even this would come out to $1,320 monthly, or almost double the gdp per capita.

Anyone have any clue what might be up with this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Clay596 (talk • contribs) 00:22, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

International Trade Policies
While NAFTA is briefly mentioned, the effects of international trade policies like NAFTA and some policies made by the World Trade Organization on Jamaican Industries is not mentioned. These trade policies appear to have a large significance in the agriculture industry as well as many other domestic industries, so including what these policies enforce and how they affect Jamaica's economy would give a good insight into some of the troubles or successes that the economy has come across. JRiffenburgh (talk) 02:48, 9 November 2017 (UTC)Jriffenburgh

Dating Issues
Some of the information, such as inflation rates or statistically how much the agriculture industry contributes to the economy, appear to be outdated. The inflation rate shows a projected rate from 2004-2008 in the "economic history" section of the article, but on the side summary panel gives a figure from 2012. The article itself should be updated and the side panel could use more recent figures. JRiffenburgh (talk) 03:05, 9 November 2017 (UTC)Jriffenburgh

Citing Issues
Some areas of this article have unclear sources. It may be that they are not cited clearly enough and need to be reviewed and present a clear source. For example, there are 3 full paragraphs in the introduction:

''Weakness in the financial sector, speculation, and lower levels of investment erode confidence in the productive sector. The government continues its efforts to raise new sovereign debt in local and international financial markets in order to meet its U.S. dollar debt obligations, to mop up liquidity to maintain the exchange rate and to help fund the current budget deficit.

''Jamaican Government economic policies encourage foreign investment in areas that earn or save foreign exchange, generate employment, and use local raw materials. The government provides a wide range of incentives to investors, including remittance facilities to assist them in repatriating funds to the country of origin; tax holidays which defer taxes for a period of years; and duty-free access for machinery and raw materials imported for approved enterprises.''

''Free trade zones have stimulated investment in garment assembly, light manufacturing, and data entry by foreign firms. However, over the last 5 years, the garment industry has suffered from reduced export earnings, continued factory closures, and rising unemployment. This may be attributed to intense competition, absence of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) parity, drug contamination delaying deliveries, and the high cost of operation, including security costs. The Government of Jamaica hopes to encourage economic activity through a combination of privatization, financial sector restructuring, reduced interest rates, and by boosting tourism and related productive activities.

There are more citing inconsistencies with paragraphs in the agricultural section as well as the end area of the economic history section. The source should be clearly stated for each fact given and if the facts do not have a source, they should be updated with a supporting source or taken out of the article. JRiffenburgh (talk) 00:47, 30 November 2017 (UTC)JRiffenburgh

The section on agriculture has the following: "Livestock holdings were 400,000 head of cattle, 440,000 goats, 180,000 hogs & "30, rs of livestock" Not sure what "30, rs of livestock" is trying to tell us, or where the info came from, but hopefully someone will be able to provide some insight. Henrilebec (talk) 08:24, 14 January 2024 (UTC)