Ja: Magic man

THE finance minister, Omar Davies, says that Jamaica would maintain its record of meeting its debt payments, despite struggling with a large public sector deficit and a debt-servicing bill that eats up over 60 per cent of the government's annual budget.

"No government of Jamaica has ever reneged on debt payments and we intend to maintain this proud record," Davies said Tuesday evening during a meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee.

Davies was at the time defending his economic management in the face of a $17.4 billion addition to the $261.4 billion budget for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, as well as a fiscal deficit that will be near seven per cent of gross domestic product, a full percentage point higher than initially projected.

Increased government spending has come from higher-than-projected interest rates on the country's near $700 billion debt, which is about 150 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).