Dr. Wesley Hughes is the Chief Executive Officer of the PetroCaribe Development Fund. He was appointed Financial Secretary of Jamaica effective September 1, 2009 by the Governor General. In his capacity he served as the CEO of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Sector with overall technical responsibility for managing the country’s fiscal budget, debt and economic programme.
Dr. Hughes had been, since 1995, the Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), one of the oldest planning agencies in the developing world. He has had overall responsibility for the leadership of the Institute and for guiding Jamaica’s economic and social policies, plans and programmes formulation to achieve sustainable long-term growth and development.
Dr. Hughes’ long-standing relationship with the PIOJ began in 1977 when he joined the then National Planning Agency (NPA), the fore-runner organization, as an Economist. He left the NPA in 1981 to become the Director of Economics and Statistics at the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (1981-1986). He returned to the PIOJ in 1990 after receiving his doctorate from the University of Sussex. He served as Manager for the Five-Year Plan Project (1990-1991) and Director for the Institute’s Macro-Economics Planning Division (1991-1993). He went on to serve as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Jamaica (1993-1995).
Dr. Hughes was the Editor-in-Chief of the PIOJ’s flagship research publications: the Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (ESSJ) and the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC).
He serves on numerous public boards and committees, locally and internationally; is an integral member of the Economic Team of the Minister of Finance and the Public Service; and is the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of Jamaica. Dr. Hughes, is the national authorizing officer for official development assistance (ODA), is also integrally involved in negotiations with international development partners for the external funding of public projects.
For his outstanding contribution to the field of planning and development in Jamaica, he was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander Class on August 6, 2005.
Since November 2005, Dr. Hughes has spearheaded the pursuit of Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan, the country’s first-ever long-term development plan, which seeks to put Jamaica in a position to achieve developed country status by 2030. This is encapsulated in the comprehensive vision statement Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.