Jamaicans are being encouraged to follow the upcoming Budget Debate, which begins on March 8. State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Marsha Smith, told JIS that the Debate, which will provide details on what the Government plans to do with the country’s finances over the 2022/23 financial year, beginning April 1, is in the...

The Government has budgeted $60 million for activities under the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism (AP&FM) project, which seeks to help Jamaica adjust more easily to climate change. The money was allotted in the 2022/23 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which began in February 2015 and is slated to end in June 2022, is...

A sum of $710.2 million is earmarked to continue work under the Government’s Global Services Skills Project, during fiscal year 2022/23. Details of the provision are outlined in the 2022/23 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which commenced in January 2019 and is being implemented by Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), aims to promote growth in...

The Government will inform the nation shortly on what measures will be put in place to facilitate the reopening of the entertainment sector. This was stated by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, during a virtual press briefing held on February 22. He said that Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, will be coming shortly...

The upgraded irrigation system at the Bodles Research Station in St. Catherine is expected to play a vital role in strengthening the Fruit Tree Project. In 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, in collaboration with the Jamaica Agricultural Society, embarked on a National Fruit Tree Planting Programme. The programme aims to increase the nation’s food security by expanding the...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is reporting that the pace of foreign exchange rate depreciation has slowed significantly. Governor, Richard Byles, said that the exchange rate, as at February 16, 2022, was J$157.42 to US$1, representing four per cent annual point-to-point depreciation. “This is a slower pace of depreciation than what occurred over the same period of last year. Moreover,...

Jamaica will be hosting Royal Caribbean’s flagship Oasis class vessel and the world’s largest cruise ship, Wonder of the Seas, in November. According to Royal Caribbean’s western Caribbean itinerary for 2022, Wonder of the Seas, which is due to begin its maiden voyage from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to the eastern Caribbean on March 4, will arrive in Falmouth, Trelawny, on...