UN General Assembly
2019

Jamaica also welcomes India’s offer to establish and host the Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure to provide a framework to ensure that all future infrastructure is resilient in the face of disasters. We encourage coordination and cohesion in emerging initiatives so as to maximize the impact of our efforts. I am also compelled to reiterate the special challenges faced by such highly indebted middle-income countries as Jamaica and our Caribbean neighbours. Although we are poised for economic transition, our potential is seriously constrained by having to choose between high external-debt repayment and catalytic growth spending. Furthermore, the current policies that govern access to concessional-financing windows do not allow us access to sufficient, affordable long-term financing for SDG investments, and our capacity to mobilize public resources domestically is limited by our small size and vulnerability. This touches on the issue of graduation criteria, which do not take into account the range of vulnerabilities facing middle-income countries. Our economies face further challenges as a result of de-risking and the attendant problem of losing correspondent-banking relationships, which severely impedes access to essential financial services.