The advantage is slipping

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Dear Mr Prime Minister,

In a game of chess, they say if you control the centre, you are most likely to win the game.

When Audley Shaw was the minister of finance, he had a clear, understandable and unambiguous strategy. His focus was low inflation, low interest rates and increased productivity. I bought into that strategy and began to feel better about my country, as did many Jamaicans, as no longer would their life savings be worthless because of a devaluing dollar.

You sacrificed the knight (Audley Shaw) for the bishop (Nigel Clarke), and all of a sudden, the strategy has changed. The dollar is slipping and we are told that the inflation rate is too low. With the devaluation of the dollar, everything gets expensive, and now the little man recognises that his income can no longer meet his needs.

I don't understand the present strategy and I don't think it can work. I am sure if you ask most Jamaicans, they will agree that they don't understand the reason for the change in strategy, nor do they think it will work.

I fear you are losing the centre (the minds of the Jamaican people) and hence the advantage, so please think carefully about your strategy.

We Jamaicans just want a stable economic environment so that Jamaica can be the place of choice to work, raise our children and retire.

D.G.

Concerned Jamaican