Ja: Socialism is a luxury Jamaica cannot afford

THE PUBLIC debt is likely to reach $1 trillion by 2006, acording to Bruce Golding, Opposition Senator.

He made the charge in the Senate yesterday where a Bill was passed to enable the Government to legally borrow up to $650 billion.

"At the rate at which the debt is increasing by December 2006 the public debt of Jamaica will exceed $1 trillion," Mr. Golding projected.

According to him, based on the current public debt, an unborn child at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital has already been saddled with a $260,000 debt commitment.

The Opposition Senator proposed the implementation of an entrenched constitutional provision to cap the national debt. He also renewed calls for the decentralisation of the central bank which has responsibility for monetary policies.

Mr. Golding said the Government's frequent amending of the Loan Act to increase the borrowing ceiling was like a borrower "determining and approving his own overdraft." He also questioned the Government's effectiveness for periodically moving the "goal post."