Ruling party should speak the truth on borrowing

THE EDITOR, Madam:

It seems that the ruling party members have made a habit of distorting the truth. It would be refreshing if they could take a break from the spin and be honest with the Jamaican people. To claim that the Government has built Jamaica’s economy without relying on loans, using solely our tax revenues, is false and insulting to the intelligence of the Jamaican people.

The Gleaner reported on May 6 that the speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Juliet Holness, told a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Area Council One meeting that the government had “created strong economic foundations without relying on loans from international agencies”. She was quoted as saying: “Labourites, when you are in a place where you can fix your country and you don’t have to go to nobody and say, ‘I begging you. I borrowing. We need a likkle money to borrow’.”

Cabinet members have also echoed this same narrative. At this point, either they haven’t read their own budget documents – or they assume that we haven’t. Because anyone with access to the Ministry of Finance’s website can look up the truth in black and white.

Let’s talk numbers. We won’t include the 2016/17 fiscal year budget – they inherited that one. But starting from 2017/18, under the Holness administration, here’s the amount borrowed annually to fund the national budget, according to the Government’s Revenue Estimates (under Total Loan Receipts):

1. 2017/18 – J$208.09 billion

2. 2018/19 – J$126.59 billion

3. 2019/20 – J$102.92 billion

4. 2020/21 – J$143.60 billion

5. 2021/22 – J$161.97 billion

6. 2022/23 – J$124.13 billion

7. 2023/24 – J$139.47 billion

8. 2024/25 – J$191.44 billion (estimate)

9. 2025/26 – J$158.44 billion (projection)

That adds up to approximately J$1.19 trillion between FY 2017/18 and FY 2024/25. By the end of FY 2025/26, the total will reach roughly J$1.35 trillion.

So yes. We borrowed under Holness administration – and we borrowed plenty. The numbers don’t lie. So we ask: why is the JLP government saying it has not borrowed?

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL PARTY

YOUTH ORGANISATION