KINGSTON, Jamaica -- New commercial and high-end condominiums are rising from the dirt, the minimum wage is going up, unemployment is the lowest it’s been in years and tourism — the engine of the economy — is once more booming.
After years of being hobbled by crippling debt, double-digit deficits and negative growth, Jamaica, the largest island in the English-speaking Caribbean, is showing its ability to weather crises — and its hard-won economic stability is getting noticed along with the leadership of its prime minister.
In just the past four months, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and welcomed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the newly appointed president of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, to the island. Banja’s visit, just 12 days into the job, was part of his months-long global tour and the first by a World Bank president in an official capacity in recent times.
