Phillips says oil price decline will boost Jamaican economy

Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips is predicting that the ongoing fall in fuel prices will provide a stimulus for the Jamaican economy.
   
The price of  oil has fallen 50% in the last six months, with OPEC, the producers' cartel, having failed to agree on cuts in production to stem the downward spiral.      
   
The Finance Minister, during an address in Kingston on Thursday, said he expected the benefit will primarily go to consumers, in the first instance, but that they, in turn, were likely to spend that money, "and provide, in a sense, a stimulus; unexpected, but very much welcomed."

He said preliminary indications suggest there has recently been significant capital investment as well as an increase in demand for intermediate goods.
   
He reported as well that imports of consumer goods are down and have been replaced by an increase in domestic supplies.