The Government has committed to spend $1 trillion over the next five years on a massive infrastructure development programme.
Finance and Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke made the announcement as he opened the 2024/2025 Budget Debate at Gordon House on Tuesday.
Clarke, who is also chairman of the Public Investment Management Committee, said the programme “will positively impact the daily experience of Jamaicans with public investment expenditure designed to solve pain points”.
“Some of these will be financed by the government and some by the private sector by way of structured transactions,” Clarke said.
He added:
The public investment programme will deliver well over $1 trillion in infrastructure expenditure over the next five years, inclusive of this year, and inclusive of expenditure by PPPs – roads and bridges and public parks, hospitals, schools, water, sewage, irrigation systems, houses, tax offices, court houses, buses, garbage trucks, digital infrastructure, IT systems and highways.
Clarke noted that “it will be the greatest expansion of public investment that we have seen, geared towards improving public services”. He said every minister of government is involved “and we are working assiduously on your behalf”.
The finance minister warned that “this is only financially feasible if we maintain our credit rating because the government can’t do it all”.
Clarke explained that while the government’s programme is public, with the fiscal policy paper listing $500 billion in expenditure over the next five years, it will have to be able to structure transactions that can get private financing on board.
