Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is encouraging taxpayers to begin preparations to file their Income Tax Returns as the March 15 Income Tax due date is now less than two months away. Taxpayers are being reminded that they are required to file their Annual Income Tax Return for the year 2020 and to declare their Estimated Income and Tax Payable for...

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting that the rate of inflation for December 2020 was 1.3 per cent, while the out-turn for the calendar year was 6.4 per cent. The calendar year out-turn is 1.4 percentage points higher than the figure for the period up to October. Speaking at STATIN’s quarterly digital briefing on Wednesday (January 20), Director...

Jamaica is now compliant or largely compliant with 27 of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) 40 recommendations. The Financial Action Task Force is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. “[This is] a substantial improvement over compliance or partial compliance with only 17 out of 40 FATF Recommendations in our mutual evaluation which was undertaken in 2015 and...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, on Tuesday (January 19), tabled the third Supplementary Estimates for 2020-21 in the House of Representatives, which shows a $3.5 billion reduction in spending for the fiscal year. The revised Budget proposes a reduction in expenditure from $853.8 billion to $850.3 billion. The capital budget was reduced from...

On Friday, 15 January 2021, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) published its bulletin for the Consumer Price Index for December 2020. In this report, it was noted that, for calendar year 2020, the inflation rate was 6.4 per cent. The same release by STATIN also noted that the point-to-point inflation rate as at December 2020 was 5.2 per cent....

Managing Director of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), Marlene Street Forrest, says the entity has undertaken several initiatives and programmed several others, in its quest to ensure the sustainability of its operations. Speaking during the digital launch of the JSE’s Private Market platform on Monday (January 11), Mrs. Street Forrest said successful engagements pursued in recent years include migrating the...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says Jamaica’s private securities market grew by approximately 100 per cent between 2017 and 2020, with the value of bond issuance transactions doubling from some $200 million to $400 million. He said that when compared to the banking sector, which recorded loan growth ranging between 16 and 35...