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THE ECONOMY TODAY UNDER PNP GOVERNMENT VERSUS
WHERE THE JLP LEFT IT
Per Capita GDP
Mr Speaker, we on This Side believe it is very useful for the Jamaican
people to know on a set of objective measures where the economy is now
versus where we handed it over to the PNP administration. I want to take
you back to December 2011 when the JLP demitted office. GDP per capita
(the amount we produce per person in Jamaica) in USD terms was
US$5,254, not high by any standards, and therefore as a country we want
to see improvements. We want to see growth in this number. It would be a
sign of economic progress. Well, international rating agency Standard &
Poor’s estimates that GDP per capita in USD terms was US$4,874 at the end
of December 2014, a 7.2% decline from where the JLP left it. In fact, GDP
per capita declined every single year in USD terms since this PNP
government took over running the affairs of the country. This is a disgrace.
I say this in the context of when the JLP took over running the country in
Sept 2007. GDP per capita was US$4,815
1
based on World Bank data. The
world went through a wrenching financial meltdown in 2008-2009. The
bottom fell out of Jamaica’s bauxite industry, tourism and remittances
declined. Oil prices went from an average of US$69.10 in FY2009/10 to an
average of US$103.7 in FY2011/12. Yet, the Jamaica Labour Party managed
the economy and handed over GDP per capita of
US$5,254, a 9.1%
increase, to the PNP government.
1 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?page=1