2008-2009 Jamaica Budget

During FY 2007/08 the economy was confronted with a number of challenges. For the most part, the challenges were triggered by exogenous factors related to deteriorating global conditions and weather-related shocks. The world witnessed and continues to experience rapidly rising oil and agricultural commodity prices, a severe tightening of international credit markets and a sharp housing downturn in the United States. The convergence of these three factors is unprecedented and resulted in a very challenging external environment.