Densil Williams, Guest Columnist
It is no secret that Jamaica has a growth problem. For four decades, our average growth rate has hovered around 1%, while similar countries such as Singapore and Barbados grew in the rage of 6-8%. Their citizens now enjoy a higher standard of living as measured by their per-capita income than Jamaicans do.
Singapore has a per-capita income of more than US$43,000; Barbados’ per-capita income is around US$23,000, while Jamaica stands at around US$5,000. The disparity is even more alarming if one looks at the fact that these countries are all coming from roughly the same per-capita income of around US$390 in 1960. Indeed, for Jamaica to catch up, it has to grow its economy, full stop. Meandering along with 1% growth is not going to cut it.
However, it must be appreciated that economic growth is not an effortless task, especially for a small, open economy with so many structural problems and vulnerabilities. It is in this context that the discourse on growth in Jamaica has to take place. This article, and some of the others to come, will focus on various impediments to Jamaica’s growth over the last 50 years and also provide some insights into dealing with these challenges. The first issue that will be tackled is energy.
ENERGY AND GROWTH
The high cost of energy in Jamaica is clearly an inhibitor to economic growth. To grow the economy, Jamaica will have to increase the production of goods and services each year and sell these into the marketplace.
If people are buying Jamaican goods, the producers will be obliged to produce more. So, the greater the demand for a country’s goods and services, the greater the likelihood that the producers of those goods and services will increase their production. All other things being equal, the overall output of the country will be increased as well.
However, because of the high cost of energy, it is difficult for Jamaican goods to compete in the marketplace. Price competition, therefore, is not an option for Jamaican producers in the local and international marketplace. As such, Jamaican producers are at a disadvantage, as the majority of consumers are price sensitive. When they go to the stores, they will choose a product with a lower price, assuming all other factors remain constant.
While in the main it is accepted that Jamaican firms can be more efficient and cut wastage in order to reduce their cost structure and eventually compete at better prices, it is not always true that the high price of Jamaican products results from inefficiency at the firm level. The onerous burden that energy places on the cost structure of Jamaican firms cannot be overlooked when analysing price competitiveness in the marketplace.
Cement production is a good example of how high energy prices impact cost structure of an enterprise although the firm performs efficiently in other areas. To produce one ton of cement, Caribbean Cement Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Trinidad Cement Limited, uses roughly 102kWh of electricity, while in Trinidad, cement producers use 110kWh of electricity to produce the same ton of cement.
Carib Cement, however, pays US$0.30 per kilowatt-hour for electricity from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) – note, this is a preferential rate arrived at through negotiations – while cement producers in Trinidad pay US$0.03 per kilowatt-hour. As such, although the Jamaican plant is roughly 8% more efficient with the usage of electricity, it still faces a US$27 higher cost to produce the ton of cement.
The high price of energy in Jamaica is clearly a deterrent to increased production and, by extension, the future growth of the economy.
THE SOLUTION MIX
There will be no single solution to deal with the high cost of energy in Jamaica. What we all agree on is that we must reduce the exorbitant cost that consumers have to pay for this vital resource. For sure, there has to be greater efficiency on the part of the JPS in providing energy to its consumers. Its heat rate must be improved, similar to those of the private power producers; its system loss has to be improved; and most important, it has to use the most efficient technology to produce electricity for its consumers.
Indeed, the Energy Think Tank at the University of the West Indies, Mona, in its latest publication in the