Country Fact Sheet

Government at a GlanceLatin America and the Caribbean 2017

Although the highest level in the region, public debt in Jamaica is declining

In 2012, Jamaica’s public debt reached 145.3% of GDP, above the LAC (50.4%) and OECD (110.2%) aver-ages. Since 2013 Jamaica has been in an IMF programme for fiscal recovery aimed at breaking the cycle of high debt and low growth that affected the country for several years. By 2015, debt had declined to 124.3% of GDP, mostly from decreasing government expenditures as revenues have remained constant. It is expect-ed that debt will continue to decline, especially since the recent elimination of discretionary tax waivers and the replacement of sector-specific tax incentives with a more standardised approach.

Chapter 2: Public finance and economics

2.4. General government gross debt as a percentage of GDP, 2007, 2009, 2014 and 20152.6. General government revenues as a percentage of GDP, 2007, 2009, 2014 and 20152.14. General government expenditures as a percentage of GDP, 2007, 2009, 2014 and 2015

Jamaica does not have a main national online portal for government services

Like 39% of LAC countries, Jamaica does not have such a portal; therefore, access to services remains scat-tered across different institutions. National online portals allow for a single point of access to government services, thereby making it easier for citizens to interact with the public sector and providing a unified image of the public sector to society.

Chapter 8: Digital and open government

8.9. Existence of a main national citizens’ portal for government services (2015)

Jamaica has taken important steps to promote the use of e-procurement

While the size of public procurement as a share of total government expenditure in Jamaica is the lowest among the LAC countries - 16.7% of government expenditures, compared to a regional average of 21.9% - Jamaica took important steps to promote the use of e-procurement. For example, it has set up an e-procure-ment portal that allows the electronic submission of bids (65% of those LAC countries that have an e-pro-curement portal also have this functionality). Moreover, Jamaica is one of six LAC countries indicating that they are able to carry out the electronic submission of invoices as part of the e-procurement system.

Chapter 9: Public procurement

9.1. Government procurement as a share of total government expenditures, 2007, 2009 and 20149.7. Functionalities provided in e-procurement systems, 2015

Jamaica

Government revenues(2014, 2015)

Government expenditures(2014, 2015)

Government gross debt(2014, 2015)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database Source: IMF Government Finance Statistics database

G@G /dataG@G /data -0.5%

Jamaica

-4.5%-8%

0%

-2%

-6%

-4%

-0.4%

(2015) (2014) (2014)

Fiscal balance (2014, 2015)% of GDP

Government investment(2014)

% of GDP

How to read the figures:

Jamaica

Country value in green (not represented if not available) Average of OECD country

values in blueRange of LAC country

values in grey

Public Finance & Economics Public Employment & Compensation

Public Finance and Economics

GOVERNMENT INPUTS: FINANCIAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not availableAverage of LAC country values in purple

Breakdown of tax revenues(2014) *

% of total taxation

Jamaica

55.1%35.9%

3.9%Goods and services

Income and pro�ts

Social security49.5%

27.9%

16.4%

Other

Source: OECD Revenue Statistics in Latin America (database). * See Notes

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database

33.1%

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Jamaica

28.2%(2015)

26.8%(2014)

(2014)

2.6%1.6%

Jamaica

1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database

124.4% 100%

0%

100%

0%

Jamaica

50.4%

60% 90% 120% 150%30%0%

135.6%(2015) (2014)

(2014)

50.3%

50%

40%

60%

n.a.Jamaica

Public Employment and Compensation

G@G /data

Public sector employment filled by women

(2014) *

Source: International Labour Organization (database). * See Notes

Public sector employmentas % of total employment

(2014) *

Source: International Labour Organization (database). * See Notes

12.0% 5%

0%

25%

10%

15%

20%n.a.Jamaica

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

28.6%

Jamaica

27.9%(2015)

26.3%(2014) (2014)

GOVERNMENT PROCESSES

Government Institutions Public Procurement Digital Government

Digital Government

iREG: Composite indicatoron stakeholder engagement (2015)

Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance for Latin America

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

n.a.

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

1.61

Jamaica

Methodology

Systematicadoption

Transparency

Oversight,qualitycontrol

0

20

40

60

80

100

n.a.

0

20

40

60

80

100

45

Jamaica

Civil service merit index(2012-2015)

Source: Inter-American Development Bank, 2014

7.7%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

5.2%

Jamaica

Source: IMF Government Finance Statistics database. * See Notes

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

n.a.

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.44

Jamaica

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Main nationalcitizens portal for

government services

Legally recogniseddigital identi�cation

(e.g. digital signature)mechanism

61%

Yes

56%

No

Jamaica

Existence of a main national citizens portal forgovernment services and a legally recognised

digital identification mechanism (2015)

Source: OECD Survey on digital government performance

Health Financing Systems and Budget

The max. score for each category is 1, andthe max. aggregate score for the composite is 4

Composite index from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest)

High Moderate Low

33%47%20%

n.a.Jamaica

Level of influence of theCentre of Government

over line ministries(2015)

Government Institutions

Source: OECD 2015 Survey on Centre of Government

Development of strategic public procurement by objective(2015)

Public ProcurementGovernment procurement

(2014) *% of GDP

Source: 2015 OECD Survey on Public Procurement

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data (2016)

Composite index from 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest)

Source: 2016 OECD Survey on Open Government Data

Greenpublic procurement

A strategy / policy has been developed by some procuring entities

A strategy / policy has been developed at a central level

MSMEs Procure innovativegoods and services

6 12 0

A strategy / policy has been rescinded

A strategy / policy has never been developed

6 4 19 0 1 2 12 0 8

Support to Women ownedenterprises

1 3 0 16

Jamaica

GOVERNMENT PROCESSES

Notes

OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES

Jamaica

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

n.a.

Before After

0.52 0.50

taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.29taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality 0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Gini coefficient: Differences in income inequality pre and post-tax and government transfers (2012)

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes) and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: http://www.oecd.org/gov/government-at-a-glance-lac.htm

* Tax revenue data for Jamaica are estimated and exclude local government revenues. For Jamaica the part of government procurement related to gross fixed capital formation does not include the consumption of fixed capital. Costs of goods and services financed by general government are not included in government procurement because they are not accounted separately in the IMF Government Finance Statistics (database).

Indicator from 0 (low income concentration) to 100 (high income concentration)

Health Financing Systems And Budget FormulationHealth care financing schemes and percentage of population covered (2015)

Source: 2015 OECD Survey of Budget Officials on Budgeting Practices for Health in LAC countries

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100

63%39%

6%2%2%4%

Socialhealth insurance

Voluntaryprivate insurance

Government�nancing scheme

Jamaica

Compulsoryprivate insurance

Not coveredby any explicitarrangement

Othern.a.

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2017 is the second edition of a joint publication between the Organization for Economic

Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators to

inform policy making and benchmark specific interventions. The model is the OECD Government at a Glance, which is a fundamental reference,

backed by a well-established methodology for OECD member countries. Compared to the previous edition that had a special focus on Public

Financial Management and alongside with indicators on public finances and public employment this second version covers a wider range of public

management areas including the role and influence of the Centre of Government, Open Government and Open Data policies, Digital Government,

Regulatory Governance and practices for Budgeting in health systems.

Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2017

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2017 are available via the Stat-Links provided throughout the publication: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264265554-en