The State Opening of Parliament for Fiscal Year 2020/21 will take place on Tuesday, February 11, with the Governor-General delivering the Throne Speech, in which he will outline the Government’s priorities for the new year, which begins on April 1. Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Hon. Karl Samuda, told the House at yesterday’s (January 21) sitting...

The Government has tabled the Second Supplementary Estimates, which show that the Administration is proposing to spend an additional $7.966 billion for this fiscal year. The document was tabled in the House on January 21 by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke. The Estimates reveal that the Budget has been increased from $851.104 billion...

Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has put measures in place to deal with the expected rush in applications for a provisional driver’s licence before the new regime takes effect on January 25. Under the new process, persons wishing to obtain a learner’s licence will be required to visit any of the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) examination depots to do the Road...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon Nigel Clarke, says the salaries of Parliamentarians are increased in keeping with the general increases awarded to civil servants. “Parliamentarians’ emoluments were, therefore, increased for the four-year period 2017/18 to 2020/21, consistent with what was agreed on under the Heads of Agreement with the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions,” he noted....

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) says net currency issued during the last five working days of 2019, between December 23 and 31, totalled some $2.9 billion. In a statement on Thursday (January 2), the BOJ said this out-turn for the week contributed to the overall $18.9 billion or 14.5 per cent growth in the currency stock for the month, consistent...

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting third-quarter 2019 calendar year economic growth of 0.6 per cent, from July to September, relative to the corresponding period the previous year. This out-turn is 0.3 per cent higher than the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s (PIOJ) estimate, as announced during the agency’s quarterly briefing last November. Minister of Finance and the Public...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke is pointing to the improving resilience of the Jamaican economy given the economy’s modest expansion, despite external economic shocks, in the third quarter of 2019. Minister Clarke stated, “STATIN reported earlier this week that the Jamaican economy grew in the June – September quarter of 2019 by 0.6%...