Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, is accusing Co-Chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee, EPOC, Richard Byles, of a lack of understanding of the Jamaican economy.

Mr. Shaw cited a recent statement by Mr. Byles, in which he stated that “EPOC will have to assess the reasons for the decline in exports despite significant devaluation of the Jamaican dollar.

He says this reveals a frightening lack of understanding of the workings of the Jamaican economy, and in particular, the impact of the depreciating dollar on exports.

Mr. Shaw made the comments in a media release late yesterday afternoon.

According to Mr Shaw, exports have been declining since 2013, at the same time that the Jamaican dollar has been declining in value, running contrary to the textbook theory and the government’s expectations at the beginning of the IMF programme.

The Opposition spokesman says exports fell by over 181 million US dollars in 2013 or 11 percent.

He says this pace accelerated in the January-March quarter in 2014 in which exports fell by almost 108 million US dollars or 23 percent.

Mr Shaw also highlighted that the non-traditional export sector has been performing worse than the traditional export sector, down almost 29 percent in the January-March 2014 quarter.

He says this is a worrying development.

He’s cautioning the government against what he calls its continued use of the blunt instrument of currency devaluation to fix the current account deficit.

Mr. Shaw again called on the government again to lay out the growth strategy for the economy, saying that currency devaluation cannot be a long-term sustainable strategy for the Jamaican economy.