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JAMAICA BANKERS ASSOCIATION EXPRESSES CONCERN
OVER THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF BOJ’S SHORT-TERM INTEREST RATE HIKE
February 10, 2003
The
Jamaica Bankers Association has expressed concern over the possible
long-term impact of the Bank of Jamaica’s introduction
today of, “a special five-month open market instrument,
which will earn interest at 30%.”
“While we recognize that this is intended to be a temporary
measure, we believe that it will have a disruptive impact on
the marketplace, for how long remains to be seen,” said
Raymond Campbell, President of the Jamaica Bankers Association.
“The fact is, such temporary measures do not correct the
root causes of economic and financial instability which arise
from the fiscal deficit. This cannot continue unabated and we
trust that the long-term corrective actions being considered
by government will include effective measures to address the
imbalance that exists in revenue collection whereby taxes are
not collected or under collected from somewhere between 40%
to 50% of taxpayers or those who should be. |
