'Miraculous explanation' of missing PC bank money - Shaw

Opposition spokesman on Finance Audley Shaw said the miraculous explanation for the missing half a billion dollars from the coffers of the National People's Co-operative Bank would be laughable if the situation wasn't so serious.

Shaw, speaking at a press conference at the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) headquarters on Belmont Road yesterday, said it was a miracle that agriculture minister Derrick Kellier was able to give account for $665 million for which a team of auditors could not account in a recent audit of the PC Banks.

The assets of the PC bank up to December 2014 were listed as $4.6 billion and liabilities at $4.2 billion. With only a surplus of $400 million and $665 million not accounted for, the bank, in real terms, is insolvent.

Shaw has called for the Bank of Jamaica and the Ministry of Finance to begin to regulate cooperative societies. He wants the Bank of Jamaica to immediately establish the appropriate regulatory framework and insist on minimum standards of accountability.