At a time when many countries, large and small, are confronting heavy and growing public debt burdens, Jamaica offers a rare example of a country that succeeded in substantially reducing its debt, according to a paper to be discussed at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) conference on March 28. Jamaica cut its debt, as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP), in half--from 144% in 2012 to just 72% in 2023, according to the paper--"Sustained Debt Reduction: The Jamaica Exception." And the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Jamaica's debt ratio to decline still further, to less than 60%, by 2028.
Authors
- Acknowledgements and disclosures
- David Skidmore authored the summary language for this paper. Chris Miller assisted with data visualization.Henry is on the board of Citigroup. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Communications Department had the right to review this work prior to publication but did not inform the findings. The authors did not receive financial support from any firm or person for this article or from any firm or person with a financial or political interest in this article. Other than the aforementioned, the authors are not currently an officer, director, or board member of any organization with a financial or political interest in this article. The discussant, Laura Alfaro served as a consultant for the IMF Evaluation Office and a visiting scholar with the Bank for International Settlements from 2023-24.
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