Peter Phillips begins IMF talks

International lending agencies recognize the severity of the debt problem Jamaica is facing and the way it threatens the island’s capacity to grow, Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Peter Phillips said.

“I think we all have common objectives,” Dr Phillips said, noting that there was a commonality of purpose between officials on the Jamaican side which travelled with him to Washington on Monday to hold talks, and those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Dr. Phillips was speaking after meeting with IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawait, and Inter-American Development Bank president, Luis Alberto Moreno, among others on Tuesday.

The government is seeking to negotiate a new agreement with the IMF as the current US$1.3 billion standby loan agreement expires in May.

With the Minister are Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, Financial Secretary Dr. Wesley Hughes, Bank of Jamaica governor Brian Wynter, and Planning Institute of Jamaica executive director , Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson.

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