( L - R ) Crawford, Hyman

Jamaicans United for Sustainable Development says the recent $1 trillion boost to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by G-20 countries has created a window of opportunity for Jamaica to restructure its debt portfolio.

The group of thinkers met recently at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston for a round-table discussion on the decisions coming out of the G-20 Summit in London.

Among the group were financial analysts Ralston Hyman and Anne Shirley, and political scientists Beverley Anderson-Manley and Richard Crawford.

According to them, a return to the IMF is inevitable, though Golding has said publicly that there is no reason for the country to seek intervention from the fund at this time.

Under new conditions

The cluster, however, argues that a return to the IMF would have to be under new conditions.

"We must take advantage of the declaration of a new IMF programme coming out of the G-20 Summit, which promises $1.1 trillion or more for loans to developing countries, $250 billion for overdraft facilities to benefit all countries, $250 billion to boost world trade and $100 billion for aid to developing countries," said Crawford, coordinator of the group.

"Many countries are already lining up to get access to these facilities and Jamaica must do the same and seek to benefit from new terms of IMF financing which will help us," he added.

The group also argues that leaders of G-20 countries, as well as regional leaders gathering for the Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad later this month, must be influenced to understand Jamaica's economic position and assist in efforts to restructure its debt portfolio.

"The restructuring of Jamaica's debt is perhaps the greatest need at this time," the group said in a document it produced following its meeting last week.

"The country needs to reduce the crippling effect of the high debt burden and thereby free resources for containing the crisis and moving to development," it added.

Wrong move

The group is suggesting that Government made a wrong move in freezing public-sector wages, noting that while it has done so it has also proposed to "continue unrealistic high interest rate payments to the rich who hold the institutional and private local debt instruments".

"We need to have immediate negotiations with all local debt instrument holders to reduce the interest payments on this debt and decrease the debt burden on the country," the group recommended.

The group added that Jamaica needs to negotiate for complete or partial relief from its debt to multilateral institutions.