National Security Minister, Hon. Robert Montague, on Wednesday (March 7) broke ground for construction of a new police station in the St. Mary capital of Port Maria. The 18-month project, on which work will begin on May 7, is being undertaken by the National Housing Trust (NHT) at a cost of $60 million. It will provide a permanent home for...

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, is highlighting the need for greater representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She noted that while women have worked for and achieved progress in the areas of equal work, political participation, violence against women and girls, they still have some ground to cover in achieving greater...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, on Thursday (March 8) formally announced that the Government will not be introducing new taxes to fund the 2018/19 Budget, amounting to approximately $773.6 billion. Instead, he said the Administration intends to do so from revenue and grants, which are “passively” forecast at $590.6 billion or 29.3 per cent of gross...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, says debt service has been reduced by $89 billion for fiscal year 2018/19. This, he said, is due to proactive liability management activities, including smarter borrowing. “In addition, non-debt spending has been increased in this year’s budget by $54 billion, including $15 billion more in capital expenditure, $13 billion more...

The allocation to the Ministry of National Security for fiscal year 2018/19 has increased by 23.4 per cent, moving to $78.5 billion up from $63.6 billion in 2017/18. Opening the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 8, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, said the increase will facilitate the provision of machinery and...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has reiterated that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will be receiving $101.6 billion for 2018/19, up from $98.9 billion last year. Opening the 2018/19 Budget Debate in the House on Thursday (March 8), Mr. Shaw said the sum is the largest from the Budget, because the Government remains...

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank) will be expanding the provision of new financial services to the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector. These services, which are not currently available to them from the commercial financial institutions, include assistance with single-digit interest rates, venture capital, factoring and leasing. “Assistance will...