As the Government prepares to present a breakdown of its budgetary proposals for the 2018-19 year, it is important that all Jamaicans get an opportunity to partake in the discussions and to have a full appreciation of the terms and words used in the discourse. On February 15, the Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, tabled...

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) have signed a Framework Cooperation Agreement for the Bank to approve a grant of US$1.2 million for the FAO to implement a cassava project in Dominica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Titled: ‘Cassava Industry – Market Assessment and Technology Validation and Dissemination’, the project...

The Government and the World Bank, today (March 2), signed a US$15-million loan agreement that will provide greater financial support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Under the Access to Finance Project, US$5 million will go towards boosting the Credit Enhancement Facility for guarantees to MSME loans; US$5 million will be used to support the establishment of an SME...

The Government has programmed $87.3 billion for implementation of new or ongoing public-sector investment projects within Central Government and public bodies during the 2018/19 financial year. Another $336.8 billion is projected to be spent on similar engagements over the next four fiscal years, ending 2022/23. This is according to the Government’s 2018/19 Fiscal Policy Paper (FPP), which was tabled in...

The Government is giving consideration to selling some of its shares in the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) in order to clear the debt owed to the company for streetlights. This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, during the meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament held on Wednesday (February 28). Currently, the...

Two hundred and sixty public-sector workers have, so far, registered for the Government’s Special Early Retirement Programme (SERP), which officially closes yesterday (February 28). The figure is likely to increase by March 2 when Human Resource Departments across government complete the uploading of all the persons who have applied to the programme. During a meeting of the Standing Finance Committee...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says public debt servicing is below 40 per cent of the National Budget. “It is at 37.4 per cent. This is significant because we all remember the days in both governments when we had debt servicing in excess of 60 per cent (and) at one stage as high as 65 per...