The current mission of the World Bank to Jamaica is an important development. Its stated purpose is to address two areas. The first is that of corruption. The second is the crucial matter of refinancing the country's enormous foreign debt. To say that these are issues of the highest national importance would be the understatement of the year.

The history of relations between the bank and Jamaica has been a complex and controversial one. On previous occasions differences have arisen which caused both sides to pause and review the relationship at some length. We hope those unhappy days are now behind us and both the bank and the country can address the serious issues before us with a sense of common purpose. The matter of corruption prevention and deterrence should be a good place to begin. For, whatever the political issues, all parties can agree that Jamaica must make every effort to clean up its act in this area.

The challenge is to get beyond the drama of the immediate cases and to look more deeply at the root causes of corruption. The aim must be to address the issues on a very broad basis of principle but, at the same time, to take practical measures which can effectively plug the holes of unaccountability in the short term. In this connection, the vexed question of political party funding must be put squarely on the table, as this is one area in which the door to improper influence remains wide open.

In the debt-restructuring part of the exercise, the critical issue will be the terms and conditions. In the social situation Jamaica finds itself, with price increases raining down daily and the homicide rate soaring, it would be astonishing if the bank were to attempt to exact a high price for its refinancing support. Severe fiscal tightening, which has destabilising social consequences, may make refinancing politically impossible for any government to swallow - undermining the entire purpose of the refinancing exercise.

Another contentious issue arises around what is to count as 'foreign' debt. As has often been reported in the financial press, estimates are that at least 70 per cent of the foreign-denominated debt is in practice held by Jamaicans right here in Kingston. This reality adds much complexity to the refinan-cing issue as it is not, as in the past, a matter of some sort of Paris Club exercise but, as the cynics would have it, more a matter for the Liguanea Club! Be that as it may, the issue of debt refinancing has to be faced, as the funds which could be released for much-needed expenditure on education, security, health and infrastructure are great. With goodwill and flexibility on both sides, we should be able to resolve all the many complexities. Too much is at stake to fail.

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