The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) is reminding Customs Brokers and Broker Clerks that they have a period of three (3) months ending June 30, 2020, to submit a valid Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC) and Police Record, following the renewal of their licences with the JCA for the period 2020-2021. This extension is only applicable for the renewal of applications, as...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says grants totalling $3.6 billion have been transferred to persons applying for assistance under the Government’s COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme. These recipients, Dr. Clarke says, include 337,000 of the 375,000 persons deemed eligible for Compassionate Grants, and 12,000 of 30,000 people qualifying for the...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says tighter restrictions will be re-imposed if a spike in confirmed local Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases reoccurs, subsequent to further relaxation of the existing preventative measures, beginning Monday (June 1). Noting that the number of cases totaled 586 as at Sunday (May 31), Mr. Holness emphasized that “we must continue to protect...

The Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency (OSI) is collaborating with the Office of the Government Trustee (OGT) and PSJ Limited to host a virtual financial counselling session on Wednesday, June 3 at 2:00 p.m. Financial counsellor, Richard Bertram, will be speaking on the topics – ‘The Dangers of Financing a Lifestyle” and ‘Steps to Take Control of Your Finances”,...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the protocols for the resumption of operations in the workplace will be published and disseminated within the next week. He said that the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, which is crafting the protocols, is “far advanced” in its work. Dr. Clarke chairs the multisector working group established...

The House of Representatives on Wednesday (May 27), approved amendments to the Financial Audit and Administration (FAA) Act to postpone Jamaica’s target of reducing debt to gross domestic product (GDP) to 60 per cent, by two years. The legislation will facilitate the extension of the timeline from March 31, 2026 to March 31, 2028. In his address, Minister of Finance...

Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ’s) ongoing reform of the foreign exchange (FX) market is poised to take another significant step. The long-awaited electronic FX Trading Platform (FXTP) is almost here. The platform will facilitate real time electronic FX trading and observation of trades between all authorized FX traders - namely Deposit Taking Institutions (DTI’s), and cambios for the USD/JMD currency pair....