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US$279.6MJamaica’s expenditure

on merchandise imports

during January to

November 2014 fell by

US$279.6 million or five

per cent to to US$5.28

billion when compared to

the same period in 2013.

Earnings from total

exports fell by US$109.1

million or 7.5 per cent to

US$1.34 billion.

THIS WEEK’S

BIGNUMBER:

THE GLEANER, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015

McPherse ThompsonAssistant Editor – Business

THE GOVERNMENT willbe seeking permissionfrom the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) to extendthe deadline for a reduction inthe size of the public sectorwage bill to nine per cent ofgross domestic product (GDP).

The Government had agreedto reach that target by the end offiscal year 2015/16, but IMFmission chief to Jamaica, Dr JanKees Martijn said last week thatthe authorities have now com-mitted to do so by fiscal year2016/17.

The December 2014 memo-randum of economic and finan-cial policies, the last one theGovernment submitted to theIMF executive board ahead of itsapproval of the sixth quarterlyreview, has indicated that thedeadline for doing so would bethe upcoming fiscal year.

At the conclusion of the sev-enth review mission to Jamaicaon February 25 Dr Martijnnoted that the Government, hav-ing tabled its budget inParliament in February, “theauthorities intend to maintainthe wage bill in line with thebudget allocation, and theyremain committed to reduce thewage bill to nine per cent ofGDP by 2016/17”.

However, it is the IMF’s exec-utive board which will ostensi-

bly be required to give the go-ahead to Jamaica to extend thedeadline for reducing the wagebill. The board is expected toconsider the seventh review ofJamaica’s IMF-supported pro-gramme under the extendedfund facility this month.

According to the 2015/16Fiscal Policy Paper tabled by

Finance and Planning MinisterDr Peter Phillips in Parliamentin February, the allocation forwages and salaries of $161.7 bil-lion for fiscal year 2014/15 rep-resented the largest share of thenon-debt expenditure budget,accounting for 52.7 per cent, amarginal reduction from the 54.8per cent the previous fiscal year.

That provision amounted to 10per cent of GDP, down from10.6 per cent in 2013/14.

Wages and salaries for theperiod April to December 2014totalled $120.8 billion, whichwas $1.7 billion or 1.4 per centless than the amount budgeted,the Paper said.

Contributing to the lower

spending was the fact that actualpayments from some settlementswere less than the amount bud-geted for payment during thereview period. The payout forthe one-off payment of $25,000to public sector workers was$2.3 billion compared to the bud-geted $2.7 billion.

Compared to the correspon-ding period the year before,spending on wages and salariesduring the period to December2014 increased by $1 billiondue mainly to the implementa-tion of the second phase of thehealth sector reclassification aswell as performance increments,arrears associated with imple-mentation of a relativity studyfor firefighters, and holidayhours worked by the police.

However, those costs wereoffset by significantly lowerpayment of back pay whichtotalled $7.2 billion comparedto $12.5 billion in 2013.

For fiscal year 2015/16,wages and salaries as a share ofnon-debt recurrent expenditureis projected at $165.2 billion or55 per cent.

That allocation includesamounts for back pay primarilyto correctional officers, firemenand health sector workers, aswell as the final tranche of the$25,000 one-off payment due topublic sector workers.

Provision is also made for thepayment of new rates to groupssuch as medical officers, con-sultants and correctional offi-cers, which settle outstandingwage issues during fiscal year2014/15, as well as an amountfor wage adjustment from thenegotiations currently underwaywith unions.

mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com

Check here weekly for calendar updates

Gov’t to seek extensionto reduce wage bill

FILE

Dr Peter Phillips, minister of finance planning (left), and International Monetary Fund mis-sion chief, Dr Jan Kees Martijn.

IMF-JamaicaCalendar

2015

MMaarr 2233 Seventh test results and

SDR distribution.

JJuunn 2222 Eighth test results and

SDR distribution.

SSeepptt 2211 Ninth test results and SDR

distribution.

DDeecc 2211 Tenth test results and SDR

distribution.