The Government of Jamaica (GOJ), the Development Bank of Jamaica, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank Group, European Investment Bank as part of Team Europe, USAID, and the United Kingdom, are discussing a framework to establish a ‘Blue Green Facility’ –a blended financing structure–of up to USD 500 million over five years, which would...

The Senate passed the Appropriations (Amendment) Bill, today (April 12), which seeks to remove, from the Act, the amounts related to statutory expenditures that were inadvertently included in the schedule. The legislation was piloted by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith. Senator Johnson Smith reiterated that the...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, has welcomed assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in strengthening government and civil society efforts in support of victims of interpersonal and collective violence. The organisation is providing US$9.9 million to bolster interventions in hotspot communities under the Supporting Victims of Violence (SVOV) Activity. The initiative, being undertaken through partnership...

There are no reports of any Jamaicans being affected by the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked New York City and its environs on the United States (U.S.) east coast on Friday (April 5). Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, indicated that he had dialogue with Jamaica’s Consul General in New York,...

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie (right), greets General Manager, Caribbean Country Department and Country Representative, Jamaica, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Anton Edmunds, during a courtesy call at the Ministry's Hagley Park Road offices in St. Andrew on April 5.

Some 1,000 Jamaicans from across the globe are expected to converge at the Montego Bay Conference Centre in St. James from June 16 to 19 for the 10th biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference. This year’s staging will be the first time the highly anticipated conference is being held in person since the COVID-19 pandemic. It was launched on Thursday (April 4)...

The country will be marketed as a destination for trade and investment, at the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference. Under the theme, ‘United for Jamaica’s Transformation’, this year’s conference will mark 20 years since the event was first held and will take place from June 16 to 19 in Montego Bay, St. James. State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign...

Approximately 300 residents of Norwood, Flankers and Salt Spring in St. James benefited from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Community Empowerment Fair, which was held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Montego Bay recently. The fair formed part of USAID’s Positive Pathways Programme, which targets support for Jamaican beneficiary communities, parents, and families to prevent youth...

Jamaica is being hailed as “exceptional” for achieving sustained reduction in the public-debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio (GDP) despite global financial crises, pandemics, and other emergencies. In a paper titled ‘Sustained Debt Reduction: The Jamaica Exception’, authors Serkan Arslanalp, Barry Eichengreen and Professor Peter Blair Henry, noted that the sharp, sustained reductions in public debt are outstanding “because public-debt-to-GDP ratios have been trending...