Chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), Keith Duncan, has been appointed to head the Fiscal Advisory Committee (FAC).
The announcement was made Tuesday by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke in a final statement in the House of Representatives.
Clarke, who heads to the International Monetary Fund to take up a deputy managing director job, told the House that the Fiscal Commission will come into effect on January 1, 2025 as previously stated.
“The timetable doesn’t change because the minister changes,” Clarke said.
Jamaica’s first fiscal commissioner was appointed in May 2023, and Clarke said it has taken this time for the commission to get up to speed.
“The fiscal commission becomes the independent arbiter of Jamaica’s fiscal rules and takes over from the auditor general…,” he noted.
The former minister said the FAC, that will function similarly to EPOC, will also have as members trade unionist Helene Davis-Whyte; Nancy Pinchas from civil society; Dr Patrice Whitely representing academia, and Kareem Tomlinson, a GraceKennedy executive, representing the private sector.