by Jean Lowrie-Chin
During the bad old seventies when many were fleeing
Jamaica, I noticed that upper income folks were not moving. Rather, they were installing more
sophisticated security features, bought more dogs and built guardhouses at
their gates. I remember the late Cecil
Charlton saying to security mogul Kenny Benjamin, “Kenny, I need you to sell me
some of them ‘tump-a-tail’ dogs!”, his description of the popular
Dobermans. Clearly, these well-heeled
Jamaicans saw the value of remaining here.
Happiness at NHT Groundbreaking - Longville Park |
The Jamaica
Observer reported on January 31, “Fitch
Ratings Agency, today upgraded the Government of Jamaica's Long-Term
Foreign-Currency Issuer and Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'B+'
from 'B', and revised the outlook to “stable” from “positive”. The agency also
upgraded the country ceiling to 'BB-'from 'B'. This is Jamaica's highest rating
in over 10 years, said the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.”
Now, with growing
interest in Jamaica, everyone whether of small, medium or large means, should
be looking at investment options. Many
have been paying into NHT for years, not realizing the increased benefits being
offered by them. Here is information
from the NHT website:
“Loan
limits have been increased for the following groups:
Non-Homeowners: A non-homeowner is a contributor
who does NOT have
any legal or undisputed right to ownership of a residential property.
If
you do not own a house and have never accessed a benefit from the NHT, you may
access financing up to the loan ceiling. The current loan celling is $5.5m.
Homeowners: An eligible contributor who is
already a homeowner but has never received an NHT loan, can get up to $2.5
million to extend, repair and improve his premises or help buy another
property. It can also be used to purchase and install a solar panel system and
provide hurricane shutters.
Persons buying residential lots: An eligible
contributor can now get up to $2.5 million to buy a residential lot being sold
on the open market or being sold by the NHT. Two persons may co-apply for the
new maximum limit of $5 million.”
Patrick Hylton |
NHT interest rates range from two
percent to six percent, with rebates for persons with disabilities. Interest
rates for mortgages from commercial banks are competitive, and these can be
combined with an NHT loan. I entreat young professionals to invest in that
first piece of real estate in a solid location.
This has been my refrain for years; a former employee expressed his
gratitude for my advice, because he had invested in a small studio, the rental
from which he was able to use to fund post graduate education overseas.
As has been reported by Bloomberg,
Jamaica’s Stock Market recorded the strongest growth in the world in 2018. I can hear the voice of the late investment
guru Sushil Jain saying, “Make sure you invest in the stock market. Don’t you
want to have Don Wehby and Patrick Hylton working for you?” Now there is the
social stock market which gives social enterprises the opportunity to access
funding from the public. Congratulations
to my friends at Deaf Can! Coffee Company, among the first listings, whose
products and services are exceptional.
Don Wehby |
Whenever you are wondering how
Jamaica is doing, take a look at the business programmes and business sections
of our newspapers. You will see that
while some of us are continually stuck on cable TV, others are planning their
way ahead, and overseas investors are seeing great possibilities here. The French company Total is set to become a
big player in Jamaica’s petrol market as they are purchasing the Epping
facilities. There are some 5,000 hotel
rooms to be added to our stock.
With the arrival of the ‘SeaWalk’
articulated pier, and a sizeable investment in a Port Royal Cruise port,
residents of that area, Harbour View, Bull Bay and Rockfort should be getting
together to plan cultural and tour packages.
Our Rockfort Mineral Spa is said to be one of the best in the world and
surfing is a big attraction in Bull Bay. A ferry ride over to the Kingston
Waterfront will bring them to historical sights in the city.
Have you been down to the Kingston
Waterfront recently? It is bustling with new restaurants and clubs. People are not rushing home from their
downtown workplaces anymore; instead they are cooling out at the pier, their
cars lining most of the length of Ocean Boulevard.
The folks who had invested years
ago in Ocean Towers apartments are now seeing their property appreciate. Meanwhile, uptown, apartment buildings are
appearing everywhere, and getting higher as we maximise the use of landspace in
our in-demand metropolis. Among them is
the planned ‘Residences at the Terra Nova’, condos that will offer luxury
accommodations and services.
A recent release from our Economic
Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) co-chaired by BOJ Governor Brian Wynter
and JMMB President Keith Duncan, noted, “The EPOC met on January 15, 2019 and reviewed the
latest available results for the period ending September 2018. Based on the preliminary results for performance to date
through the end of November 2018, the GOJ is on track to meet the targets for
the Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPCs) and indicative targets (ITs) for
the IMF Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) as at end-December 2018. As a result of the overall strong
performance, the GOJ has met all eight (8) macro-fiscal structural benchmarks
for the November 2016 to November 2018 period. The GOJ has also met the
fourteen (14) structural benchmarks for public sector transformation, public
bodies and public service reform through end-November 2018.”
Good people, we can spend our time gossiping and
bickering over tribalist pettiness, or we can focus our energy on making the
best of this positive environment for economic growth. Record your goals, study your options and step
up for yourself, your family and your country.
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