The Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited (JBM) plans to explore the redevelopment of the Ocho Rios Port in St. Ann in partnership with the Port Authority of Jamaica. The objective is to rebuild the port into a multipurpose facility that will allow for continued loading and shipping of limestone and sugar, attract additional and larger cruise ships, and receive and distribute...

The Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) will this year commence construction of 100,000 square feet of additional business process outsourcing (BPO) space in Kingston and St. Catherine at a cost of $550 million. As stated in the 2019/20 Jamaica Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, the expenditure is a portion of the $952 million budgeted for the period. Work...

Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) programmed initiatives for 2019/20 are projected to facilitate investments totalling some $26.4 billion and engagements targeting 220 new companies. As stated in the 2019/20 Jamaica Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, the entity’s activities are expected to yield loan disbursements totalling about $7.6 billion, as against $3.8 billion for the just-concluded financial year. Engagements...

Executive Director of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), Dr. Damien King, has lauded the Government for presenting a “responsible” $835.2-billion Budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year. Speaking at CaPRI’s Annual Budget Review and Public Forum at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston, on March 25, Dr. King noted that the Budget, details of which were outlined in the...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says measures under the Economic Reform Programme (ERP) are generating the fiscal space to facilitate increased Central Government capital expenditure. This, he notes, is evident over the last five years, during which inflation-adjusted programmed expenditures have increased by 162 per cent between fiscal years 2014/15 and 2019/20. The Minister...

A sum of $100.9 billion is earmarked to implement 194 investment projects by Central Government and Public Bodies during the 2019/20 fiscal year, under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP). This is according to the 2019/20 Fiscal Policy Paper, which was tabled in the House of Representatives by Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke. Just...

The Government now has the authority to spend funds allocated in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, following the passage of the Appropriation Act 2019 in the Upper House on March 22. This annual Bill provides authority for expenditure (other than statutory expenditure) for the financial year 2019/20 and specifies the manner in which the money is to be allocated to...