P R E S S R E L E A S EAugust 19, 2015For Immediate Release

Phillips and the PNP have done all they can to make Jamaicans poorer - ShawOpposition Spokesman on Finance and Planning Audley Shaw, today described a recent reported statement by Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips that "the government has done all it can for poor people," as an insult to the poor, unemployed and working class people of Jamaica.Mr Shaw said the fact is that under the PNP Government over the past four years, more people are unemployed and more people have fallen below the poverty line since the change of government in 2011.Mr Shaw said the main reasons for this are the savage devaluation of the exchange rate moving from J$86 to US$1.00 in 2011 to
J$117.50 to US$1.00 now, as well as its inability to attract investments, grow the economy and create meaningful employment.He said that the devaluation has caused sharp increases in the cost of basic food and other necessities, while our incomes have been frozen thereby causing our purchasing power to plunge by 40 percent.-30-

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Audley Shaw, CD, MPOpposition Spokesman on Finance and Planning