Prime Minister Andrew Holness has expressed strong confidence in Fayval Williams as Jamaica’s new finance minister, highlighting her extensive qualifications and experience.

He emphasized that Williams is not new to the finance portfolio, having previously served in various capacities within the Ministry of Finance, which showcases her technical competence.

“Minister Fayval Williams, you will recall, was actually a minister in the Ministry of Finance—if my memory serves me correctly, you were a minister of state, then a minister without portfolio, and served with distinction at that time. So she is not new to the portfolio. If you were to look at her resume, her resume does recommend her to the position…,” Holness said at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday where he announced her as the new finance minister to replace Dr Nigel Clarke left to join the IMF.

“The stakeholder community that she will serve specifically would want to know that someone who is going to be in that area has some technical competence. So I don’t think there could be any question about Minister Williams’ technical competence in that field. But more than that, she also has practical experience; she worked in the financial sector for many years. She is a businessperson and has the experience of starting her own business, so she would understand quite a bit about business,” he added.

Holness reaffirmed that WIlliams’ appointment aligns with the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline, stressing the importance of preserving the gains made by the Jamaican people.

“I could never put anyone there who is going to any way depart from the hard-earned gains and sacrifice of the Jamaican people to get us where we are today, and I am confident that Minister Williams is a disciple,” he noted.

Williams’s historic appointment marks her as the first woman to hold the position of Finance Minister in Jamaica. She holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, an MBA with a focus on Finance from The Wharton School, and a cum laude Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard University.

Her selection comes after the resignation of Dr Nigel Clarke, who is moving on to a role at the International Monetary Fund as deputy director.