Prime Minister Andrew Holness has firmly denied claims that Jamaica is at present in a recession, asserting that whereas the nation faces financial challenges, its economic system stays robust and able to rebounding.
“By all accounts, Jamaica isn’t in a recession,” Holness said on Friday throughout a ceremony for the handing over of a two-bedroom home in Dobson, close to Christiana. “We’re very cognizant of the truth that there are challenges, however we’re assured that the Jamaican economic system is robust and can rebound. In the identical manner that now we have rebounded after the pandemic, we’ll rebound from the impacts of Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Raphael.”
His feedback are available response to current media stories suggesting that the nation’s economic system has entered a downturn. The Jamaica Observer just lately printed a front-page article titled “Sweeping Cuts: Spending Management in Tight 2025/26 Recession Funds,” highlighting the federal government’s choice to slash its annual funds by $126 billion whereas sustaining funding for key infrastructure tasks and the upcoming common election.
Holness acknowledged that financial fluctuations are a part of the pure enterprise cycle and that exterior elements, comparable to extreme climate occasions, can influence development.
“A recession is a pure a part of the financial cycle—typically the economic system goes up, typically it goes down,” he defined. “There are all types of issues that may trigger the economic system to say no, comparable to climate occasions, hurricanes, and floods that harm financial exercise. World points past our management, like pandemics, wars, and rising commodity costs, can even have an effect.”
The prime minister pointed to the consequences of Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Raphael as key the explanation why Jamaica’s economic system has not proven development over the past two quarters, significantly within the agricultural sector and infrastructure.
“We had Hurricane Beryl, which considerably impacted agriculture, adopted by sustained heavy rains that broken our highway infrastructure. Then we had one other climate occasion, Tropical Storm Raphael,” Holness mentioned. “These occasions have affected our productive capability, however that in itself doesn’t create a recession.”
He emphasised that the federal government has been working to construct a resilient economic system able to withstanding such shocks.
“We have now been constructing an economic system that’s resilient—that means when issues hit us, we’re in a position to take in the influence and bounce again,” he said.
Regardless of considerations over diminished authorities spending, Holness stays assured within the nation’s financial trajectory, reiterating that Jamaica has overcome challenges earlier than and can accomplish that once more.
