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It is instructive for this Parliament to note that since Jamaica achieved
Independence in 1962 – 52 years ago – there has been only two periods in our
economic life as a nation that our economy has experienced sustained real
economic growth in excess of 6% per year, were during the 1960s when we grew
for ten years by an annual average GDP of 6% and again in the 1980s when we
again restored the economy to economic growth of 6% per year between 1986
and 1990.
These two periods of growth were inspired by the leadership of the Jamaica
Labour Party government.
So, Mr Speaker, armed with these impressive credentials, let me end this Budget
presentation by offering a simple, organic and practical prescription for growth
that can rapidly take our economy back to those levels of growth and be
transformative in both social and economic terms.