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Another of America's leading rating agencies, Moody's, has maintained Jamaica's B (stable) rating, in its latest update issued yesterday (February 23).Moody's says: "The outlook for all ratings is stable, reflecting a balance between ongoing efforts at fiscal consolidation and the vulnerability of the country to external shocks". The agency cites Jamaica's strengths as - a commitment to fiscal discipline, proven...

Acting Assistant Commissioner of Taxpayer Services, Venice Ricketts, is imploring self-employed and small business operators to utilize the services offered by the Special Taxpayer Service Programme. Speaking with JIS News, Miss Ricketts said the programme is normally conducted from January to March of each year, to coincide with the filing period for income tax final returns. "The series, which started...

The St. Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation (SEHF) will be constructing a multi-skills youth training centre in Santa Cruz, and the government has committed to lease the organization some 16 hectares (40 acres) of land for the project. Member of Parliament for North Eastern St. Elizabeth and Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke and executive members of the SEHF recently toured the site, which...

The National Insurance Fund (NIF) will invest J$1 Billion in the micro and small business sector over the next three years. Of this amount $650 Million is to be disbursed to the sector during this calendar year. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson made the announcement on Wednesday (Jan. 25) at the launch of the Young Entrepreneurs' Association of Jamaica (YEA at...

Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wesley Hughes, has said that as a cost saving measure, beginning this year, only the consumption component of the Survey of Living Conditions (SLC) would be published every year along with special modules that give some indication of the level of poverty. Dr. Hughes, who was speaking at the launch...

Senior Citizens' Clubs in St. Thomas have launched several income generating projects to expose the versatility of the elderly in the parish. The launch, organized by the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC), was held on February 26 at the Anglican Church Hall in Morant Bay, where several handicraft items, foods, preserves as well as fruits and vegetables were displayed....

Remittances in excess of US$36 million have accrued to the Jamaican economy over the last three years, through the Jamaica-United States (US) Overseas Employment Programme, now in its 60th year. The programme, which is administered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, now accounts for more than 8,000 farm workers, many of whom have been upgraded from ordinary workers...

Grenadian Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell has said that global changes had demonstrated that science and technology and innovation has become central to improving the economic performance of the region as well as the social well being of its people. Dr. Mitchell was delivering the keynote address at the University of the West Indies' 'Research Day' activities at the Mona...

Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, has commended the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) for using job creation as a basis for rewarding businesses. Dr. Robertson made the statement at the PSOJ Job Creation Awards Ceremony, at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, on Tuesday (Nov. 26). "For too long", he said, "job creation has been seen as primarily...