PAPINE, St Andrew:

Jamaica is running out of time, and soon, the country will not be able to repay its debts if the economy continues to stagnate, says Colin Bullock, a senior economics lecturer at the University of the West Indies.

"We must reduce the fiscal deficit, but we need to reallocate resources in a way which facilitates growth. This has varied implications for defining and restructuring government in Jamaica," said Bullock, before noting that the country had been under the treadmill of adjustment for over a decade.

He said the stagnation came partly because "We have been trying to adjust with the same government structure, same government functions, and we have been trying to do the same things with less money, and we have not been doing them well".

dragged by debt

The senior lecturer argued that there was hardly any option left but to redefine the role and structure of the government and Jamaica was running out of time to do so.

"We have been adjusting for so long but we have been dragged by debt closer and closer to the edge," he said.

Bullock also said there was a delayed reaction to important occurrences, with government moving to deal with problems six months to a year after they happen.

The senior lecturer, who was speaking at the third staging of the Univer-sity of Technology's Chancellor's Forum, said Jamaica's problems did not start with the global economic recession, which has only exposed vulnerabilities.

"We have older fundamental economic problems. We have suffered from anaemic growth, unequal income distribution, a narrow productive structure, which has been exposed by the international recession; we have dying industries, and there is uncertainty about what is going to replace these dying industries," lamented Bullock.

He argued that there were other problems such as an extreme external dependence and susceptibility to internal markets, and an over-reliance on monetary policies to stabilise foreign exchange markets.

Bullock revealed that the fiscal policies were not able to adjust to these crises.

According to the senior lecturer, there were several negatives arising from the global economic crisis, and the country needed a quantum leap in policy to catch up and grow out of the debt problem.

He said with or without the assistance of the International Monetary Fund there was no option but to adjust, a move he noted would need "significant investment of political courage and strong technical leadership".

He made several suggestions, including sharing the burden of adjustment, more savvy ways of taxing, spending more efficiently, acting more quickly and decisively, communicating more openly and effectively, and focussing on the most vulnerable in society.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com