Declares “maths is not maths-ing for the Opposition”

Durrant Pate/Contributor

In closing this year’s Budget Debate in parliament this afternoon, Finance Minister, Fayval Williams, poured cold water on the Opposition’s alternative revenue measures, x-ing out the proposals put forward.

Declaring the “maths is not maths-ing for the Opposition, Minister Williams drilled into the proposals, concluding that they are not practical and unworkable. Throwing aside her solemn posture and pumped up by her government hand stomping table colleagues in the House of Representatives, the Finance Minister was fired up in detailing shortcomings in the proposals.

Explaining that both Leader of Opposition, Mark Golding and his Spokesman on Finance, Julian Robinson, spoke to their proposed e-invoicing to generate additional revenues, Mrs Williams pointed to several flaws with this proposal, highlighting that it would take 2 to 3 years to roll out the system and for it to be fully operational.

No immediate benefit from e-invoicing proposal

“So we would be looking at FY2029/30 to begin to see a working e-invoicing system in Jamaica……., contrary to what the Opposition Spokesman on Finance would have us believe, there are no revenues to be earned from e-invoicing that the Opposition Spokesman on Finance could credibly include in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY2026/27) or even the next fiscal year (FY2027/28),“ the Finance Minister teased to thundering applause from the government side in the upper house of the legislature.

While welcoming the discourse and the Opposition’s positive stance for e-invoicing to be implemented in Jamaica with alacrity, Minister Williams is in support on the need to move toward implementation of e-invoicing but is adamant that there is no immediate revenue to be gained from this measure. 

In direct reference to Robinson, Mrs Williams remarked, “Opposition Spokesman on Finance, there are no e-invoicing revenues that can be realistically expected in the upcoming fiscal year, FY2026/27, nor might I add, in the next fiscal year, to replace $8.6 billion of revenue measures. There is no magic bullet for e-invoicing gains that every global expert knows takes years to materialise. So Madam Speaker, let’s X that figure out.”

Digital nomad lacks policy architecture

As for the digital nomad, she acknowledged that the proposal from the Spokesperson on Finance reflects a worthwhile instinct, but it illustrates the difference between identifying a promising concept and presenting a fully developed fiscal instrument. 

The Finance Minister argued that the digital nomad programme may well have merit, but as part of a broader strategy to diversify Jamaica’s visitor economy, attract long-stay remote workers and stimulate spending in select sectors. Mrs. Williams made the point that it does not yet stand up as a sufficiently robust revenue measure for replacing the revenue measures in the upcoming fiscal year, FY2026/27.

According to Mrs Williams, “the issue is not that the idea lacks potential, but that it has been advanced without the level of policy architecture, implementation detail and fiscal realism required for serious budget planning. Even in a sister Caribbean country that introduced the concept five years ago and has often been cited as an early mover, the results suggest caution rather than easy optimism.”

FCJ and BOJ $1-billion extraction each

She also X that figure out for this upcoming fiscal year, likewise the suggestion for the abstraction of one billion from the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) and the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). Citing the primary goal of the FCJ of driving economic growth by providing the infrastructure needed for businesses to operate, the Finance Minister retorted, “So, Opposition Spokesman on Finance, are you sure you want to take $1-billion out of a company that helps to drive economic growth? I don’t think so, I will X this one out as well.”

As for the proposed $1-billion extraction from the BOJ, the Minister emphasised, “you can’t just take an additional $1 billion from the Bank of Jamaica, even if you think it won’t compromise the institution’s core function or its operational capacity. Madam Speaker, it appears the Opposition’s Spokesman on Finance is telegraphing the intention of the Opposition if it ever sits in the seat of Government.”

Continuing, Mrs Williams emphasised, “a government cannot simply take billions of dollars from the BOJ for funding its budget….central bank independence, places explicit and stringent guard rails around how resources can move from the BOJ to Government. So I say to the Opposition Spokesman on Finance, don’t try to sell to Jamaicans the notion that you can simply take a $1 billion from the BOJ.”