Date Published:
Apr 2010
Document Type:
R
Primary Image:
Research Document:
The Jamaican economy has suffered for the past decade from a crushing debt burden which arose largely between 1996 and 2003 when the debt peaked at 123 percent of GDP (See Figure). Since then, the relative level of the debt has fluctuated, but remained high. Servicing that debt has siphoned off exactly half the government’s revenue over the same period. Consequently, correspondingly fewer resources have been left over to meet the country’s public service needs and to allow investment in physical and social capital, resulting in pitiful rates of economic growth.