[Jamacia] PM concerned about Carribean poverty

from Hard Beat News

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has expressed concern over the conditionalities attached to aid given to the Caribbean.

The PM, who addressed the Inter-American Development Bank's 'Building Opportunities for the Majority' conference Sunday, told Congresswoman, Maxine Waters in a private meeting that multi-national agencies should reconsider their approach to development financing as a means of helping governments to find ways of brining the poor into the mainstream of economic activity.

And she criticized the recent reclassification of some Caribbean nations as middle-income countries, stating that it has affected the flow of development aid to the region.

Prime Minister Simpson Miller began her three-day visit to Washington on June 11 by attending mass at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The IDB conference concluded yesterday with an address by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Clinton stated that Latin America should carry out microeconomic reforms to clear the path for more poor people to join the middle class, instead of locking itself in a debate over fiscal discipline and social spending.