Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, says fiscal discipline must be maintained for the country to move forward. She said that as a Government, sustainable growth can be influenced through “policy continuity in areas that are benefitting the people, and through fiscal discipline.” The Minister was speaking at the annual students’...

The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) no longer wants to be seen as the institution that provides loans for only needy students. “We don’t want that stigma. We want to be known as the institution of choice that provides funding for tertiary-level studies,” Executive Director of the SLB, Monica Brown, tells JIS News. She says that the 48-year-old institution’s mission is...

The Senate on Friday (March 23) approved the Pensions Public Service Special Early Retirement Programme Order 2018 Resolution. The Special Early Retirement Programme (SERP) is a voluntary separation initiative that allows public sector employees, aged 50 to 59, under the non-contributory Government pension scheme, to take up early retirement through an incentivised package. Special incentives have been included in the...

The Government now has the authority to spend funds allotted in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, following the passage of the Appropriation Act 2018 in the Upper House on March 23. This annual Bill provides authority for expenditure (other than statutory expenditure) for the financial year (FY) 2018/19 and specifies the manner in which the money is to be allocated to...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government remains committed to the policy of indirect taxation intended to bring more Jamaicans into the tax net. “I have stated before that it is the policy of this Government to fundamentally restructure and overhaul our tax regime to make it more fair and equitable by moving from direct...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has announced that the National Unattached Youth Programme will now be absorbed under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) project, targeting a total of 12,600 youth across Jamaica in the 2018/2019 fiscal year. Making his contribution to the 2018/2019 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 20), Mr. Holness...

Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has extended the deadline for the filing of income tax returns for all business persons, companies, self-employed individuals, and employed individuals with multiple sources of income to March 24, 2018. Communications Officer, TAJ, Leighton Beckles, is encouraging persons to use the online facility at jamaicatax.gov.jm to take full and convenient advantage of the extension. Persons may...

The framework facilitating oversight of Jamaica’s financial sector by the Financial Regulatory Committee (FRC), will be further strengthened through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that has been established. Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, has endorsed the MOU, which was signed by representatives of member agencies comprising the FRC, at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), downtown Kingston,...

The Second Supplementary Estimates for the 2017/18 financial year, which reflect an increase of $9.78 billion, was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday (March 14). The figures show that the Budget has been revised upwards from $805.4 billion to $815.3 billion. The Estimates show an increase in the Recurrent (housekeeping) expenses from $515.4 billion to $523.8 billion, while...