ABSTRACT
To the world, Jamaica is another small country, although its population of over 2 million is twice that of Mauritius. Within its immediate region, however, the Caribbean islands excluding Cuba, it is among the larger islands. It is similar in per capita income to Colombia, in the low-to middleincome group. Nevertheless, it still receives very high inflows of aid and donor intervention: 15% of its imports are covered, similar to the share for Zimbabwe, which has only half its income per capita, and much higher than Colombia’s 2%, and from the 1980s its policies were under the supervision of a series of IMF and World Bank programmes. Its international position is thus a mixture: a small and dependent country with a high level of income, a strong regional position, and an unusually extensive participation in international policy-making.
