Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke has approved the extension of existing COVID-19 compliance relaxation mechanisms. The Minister first announced the relaxation as part of the 2020/21 Revenue Measures, where business entities were allowed a Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC) without meeting the statutory obligations of filing and making a return. This was done as...

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has revised the Consumer Price Index (CPI), using the 2017 Household Expenditure Survey. Introduced in April 2020, the new CPI series reflects the expenditure patterns of low- to middle-income households in Jamaica. The CPI measures the movement of prices of consumer goods and services purchased by private households and is one of the most...

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting that the inflation rate for May was 0.1 per cent. Speaking during STATIN’s quarterly digital media briefing on Wednesday (July 15), the agency’s Director General, Carol Coy, said the out-turn was largely driven by a 1.1 per cent increase in the heavily weighted ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ category of the Consumer Price...

The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force submitted its report (the “Report”) to Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Andrew Holness last week and the report has been tabled in the House of Representatives today. The Task Force which consisted of ministers of government, members of the public sector, civil society, union and business leaders, was appointed to develop recommendations that can...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, tabled the Public Bodies Management and Accountability (Nomination, Selection and Appointment to Boards) Regulations, 2020 on Tuesday, July 7, 2020 in the House of Representatives. In addition to being consistent with the Corporate Governance Framework and vision of 2011, the legislation now provides for strong representation of both...

Thirty public sector entities are now using MyHR+, the integrated payroll and human resource (HR) management information system being rolled out across the public sector by the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU). This means that these ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) now have remote access to payroll and HR information. Additionally, 38,000 employees now have access to the system. Maria Thompson...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, is reporting that as at July 1, disbursements had been made to 396,311 persons out of 415,888 eligible applicants, under the Government’s COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme. He made the disclosure during a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday (July 7). Dr. Clarke...