FAST threshold to be lowered to US$15 million

The Government has announced it will lower the threshold to be met by investors seeking to take advantage of its Facilitated Acceleration of Strategic Transformation (FAST Jamaica) programme from US$150 million to US$15 million.

FAST Jamaica creates a dedicated pathway to fast-track private sector-led strategic investment and economic growth following Hurricane Melissa last year.

The adjusted threshold was announced by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness as he opened debate on the updated National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

For FAST Jamaica projects, NaRRA’s role is to expedite the process by coordinating across agencies and accelerating regulatory approvals.

Holness said the lowering of the threshold will widen participation to a broader universe of domestic, diaspora, regional, and international investors.

“Imagine one hundred projects at that threshold. That is US$1.5 billion of private investment, mobilised at speed, creating jobs, building capacity, and driving economic expansion across every region of this island,” he told the House.

Piloting the NaRRA, Holness described the legislation as one of the most consequential pieces of legislation the Parliament has been asked to consider in the modern era of Jamaica’s development.

He positioned the post-Melissa moment as a rare, time-limited opportunity to convert national vision into national delivery.

“We are not restoring a pre-Melissa Jamaica. We are building a post-Melissa Jamaica that the generations before us dreamed of and the generations after us will inherit,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that the IMF, World Bank Group, Inter-American Development Bank, CAF, and the Caribbean Development Bank have jointly committed a coordinated financing package of up to US$6.7 billion, the single largest development financing package ever assembled for Jamaica.

However, Holness said with assessed damage from Hurricane Melissa at US$12.2 billion, the US$6.7 billion multilateral package leaves a significant shortfall that public borrowing alone cannot close.

“Private capital, both domestic and international, must be mobilised, crowded in, and put to work alongside public investment.”

In the meantime, Opposition Leader Mark Golding took issue with the Government beginning debate on the Bill on the same day it was tabled.

Golding also suggested that the Bill should go to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament for consideration before debate in the House.

However, the Government insisted that it was appropriate to go ahead with the debate since the Bill had already gone before the House and had been withdrawn to be updated based on feedback received.

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