Joe Issa Urges Businesses to Maintain Optimism, Confidence in Jamaican Economy

As the latest survey among the business sector reveals much optimism and confidence in the economy, executive chairman of Cool Group Joe Issa, is urging the sector to trust in its belief that better will come.

“This is really good news for the prospects of the Jamaican economy. I would like to encourage businesses to maintain their current level of optimism and confidence and to start investing again,” said Issa.

 

He noted that not too long ago people were predicting doom and gloom �" that nothing more could be expected of an economy being strangled by IMF commitments and the business sector would not respond to calls to invest in the current dispensation.

 

“So I’m happy to know that the sector is more optimistic than was thought,” says Issa, who has called for support for the government, which wants to embark on a number of growth policies in partnership with civil society and the opposition.

 

According to the survey, the business sector in Jamaica has not been as optimistic about the economy ever since the announcement of a package of economic policies by the JLP leading to the general election.

 

That’s the conclusion reached by Market Research Services headed by pollster Don Anderson. The survey found that optimism reached a 15-year high in the first quarter of 2016.

 

Sponsored by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), the report which was published in the Business Observer, noted an increase of 17.6 per cent in optimism for the first quarter of 2016, compared with the last quarter of 2015. This quarter’s performance is said to have been led by the economic policies announced by the Government during the campaign in the last general election.

 

At the same time, the business confidence index is said to have surged to 144.6 for the period January �" April, compared with 123.0 in the fourth quarter and 131.9 in the first quarter of 2015. “It marked a 15-year high in optimism for Jamaican businesses,” said the report.

 

The JCC said that “while the first quarter gains were widespread across firms, the largest gain was in how firms judged prospects for the Jamaican economy - surging 57 per cent from last quarter to result in the 15-year peak.” The report noted that “new peaks were also recorded in profit expectations as well as investment intentions.”

 

“The exceptional reaction of businesses to the new economic policies is every politician’s dream since it means that all oars will be pulling in the same direction toward economic growth.

 

“Just as importantly, governments now understand that the wise implementation of economic policies enables consistent economic progress over time among all stakeholders,” the JCC is quoted as saying, while warning that promises without performance, “will quickly turn dreams into nightmares, for the government, as well as for firms.”