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Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum and Our Today held a dinner at the Terra Nova Hotel on Tuesday evening as part of its Appleton Estate Circle Event Series where Jamaican excellence is celebrated.

It was fitting that outgoing Minister of Finance Dr. Nigel Clarke was the special guest as he prepared to take up his appointment as Deputy Managing Director of the IMF in Washington DC. 

Dr Nigel Clarke became Jamaica’s Minister of Finance in 2018, having been the Deputy Chairman of the Mussons Group.

His tenure has been marked by a number of remarkable successes that single him out as one of the best Ministers of Finance Jamaica has had.

He leaves government after presiding over entrenched macro-economic stability and fiscal discipline for a number of years.

Some of the world’s best ministers of finance were able to undergird economies and nations with astute fiscal management more often not in times of crisis 

Jean-Baptise Colbert, served King XIV ( the Sun King) as Minister of Finance, financing great infrastructure projects and the French military. Colbert was a champion of mercantilism and funding the state.

Alexander Hamilton was America’s first Treasury Secretary, ensuring a bankrupt country that emerged victorious fighting the British to gain its independence made its way in the world. He put in place policies and an apparatus that saw the United States’ Treasury became the most effective organ of government. 

Andrew Mellon, like Dr. Nigel Clarke, was not a career politician but rather a businessman from one of the wealthiest families in America. He served as Treasury Secretary from 1921 to 1931, from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression. 

Hank Paulson had to contend with the global financial crisis of 2008 and ensure the financial stability of not just the United States but the world as well as the rehabilitation of many of America’s finance houses.

Sir Geoffrey Howe was Margaret Thatcher’s first Chancellor of the Exchequer and is hailed as one of the best in modern times. With Britain forced to go cap in hand to the IMF and the trade unions crippling output, Howe restored finances, reduced inflation and steered the country from direct to indirect taxation. He saw to the end of foreign exchange controls. Howe believed that by reducing the deficit and controlling inflation, interest rates would fall, thereby stimulating the economy.

Sir Roger Douglas of New Zealand has been hailed as a transformative Minister of Finance whose tax structure is still regarded as a template to be followed there today. The father of “Rogernomics” removed onerous regulations, floated the New Zealand Dollar, and brought in a flat tax.

When the economy is rosy, a minister of finance looks impressive, rather like a batsman putting up plenty of runs on the scoreboard batting on a flat track. The true test comes when a minister can’t predict events and has to reach into his toolkit.

Two years into his tenure, Dr Nigel Clarke was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic which put a J$120 billion dent into the economy. Revenues were projected to decline by  $90 billion and the Government had to fork out $40 billion for COVID expenses. It was a headache of epic proportions. Fortunately, due to good husbandry, Dr Clarke had a $90 billion cash balance which came in handy for that proverbial rainy day.  Amid the chaos, the rating agency Standard &Poors saw the Jamaican economy as a good bet, affirming a B+ rating.

Dr Nigel Clarke ushered in an independent Central Bank in 2020. Today, Jamaica has its highest levels of foreign exchange reserves – over US$5 billion.

The national debt is at its lowest level for forty years with the debt-to-GDP ratio moving from 144 per cent to 72 per cent. This accomplishment has drawn the attention of the world who have lauded both Dr. Nigel Clarke and the Government and this may have played no small part in his appointment as Deputy Managing Director of the IMF- a first for anybody from this hemisphere.

One can recall a time when Jamaica’s interest payments consumed 60 per cent of its revenues –  now that is down to 15 per cent.

Today, Jamaica enjoys its highest rating ever from the leading credit rating agencies ( Fitch, Moody’s Standard & Poor’s), all giving the nod of approval to Dr Nigel Clarke’s management of the country’s coffers and the Government’s stewardship of the economy. 

Only last week it was reported that Trinidad & Tobago had booked nine fiscal deficits in ten years. The country has a serious foreign exchange problem which is crippling businesses who largely depend on imports. Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s national budget for fiscal year 2025 is projecting a deficit of TT$5.5 billion.

Economics lecturer at UWI, Dr Daren Conrad says alarm begs are ringing in Trinidad & Tobago and these continuous deficits are not sustainable.

“We can only run a deficit budget for so long and we can continue to borrow to finance the deficit but when you are borrowing to finance the recurrent expenditure and that is driving your deficit up, that well will run dry at some point in time,” said Dr. Daren Conrad.

Dr. Nigel Clarke has not had to contend with this problem. Of the seven fiscal years he has been Minister of Finance, he only had a deficit in one year during the COVID virus and that was at 3 per cent. This compares favourably with more advanced countries in the western hemisphere who were reporting deficits of between 8 to 10 per cent. 

There is now a palatable equilibrium with wages and salaries between the private and public sector, a huge problem government workers bemoaned for decades. 

Jean-Baptise Colbert once said of taxes, “ The art of taxation consists of plucking the goose as to obtain the largest number of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing.”

There hasn’t been cause for too much hissing over the last seven fiscal years with no additional taxes imposed on the people of Jamaica during the time of Dr. Nigel Clarke as Minister of Finance.

Bon voyage Dr Nigel Clarke, you served your country well.