The Bank of Jamaica’s (BoJ) decision to demonetize the one, 10 and 25 cent coins is being strongly supported by several business leaders. The BoJ, in a statement, cites decreasing demand and high production costs as the principal reasons for this decision, and for opting not to manufacture new ones for issuance to the public to replace those now in...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, has been awarded Finance Minister of the Year for the Caribbean 2016, by the GlobalMarkets newspaper. Minister Shaw received the award at the GlobalMarkets Annual Awards Reception held at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, DC. on October 14. He was among fifteen other Finance Ministers and Governors of Banks that...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, is calling on multilateral agencies to provide a combination of grant funding and concessional loans to assist Caribbean islands severely affected by the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria. Minister Shaw made the call as he addressed the Caribbean and International Partners Action Dialogue on Hurricanes (CIPADH), held at the...

Three Bills that seek to modernise methods of doing business in Jamaica were approved in the Senate today (October 13). The Bills are the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Act, and the Transfer Tax (Amendment) Act. They will allow for the exemption of stamp duty and income and transfer tax on share buy-back transactions involving listed companies. Piloting...

The Energy Management and Efficiency Programme (EMEP) of the Government has been strengthened  with a loan of US$15 million from the Government of Japan. The primary objective of EMEP is to bolster the government’s efforts in the areas of energy efficiency and conservation through the design and implementation of measures targeting key Government facilities as well as fuel usage within...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says energy diversification, with increased use of renewable solutions, is a strategic priority of the Government in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. The country’s National Energy Policy of 2009-2030 speaks to Jamaica having a secured, diversified and sufficient supply of energy, which will, in turn, support long-term economic and social...

The Government has renewed Jamaica’s policies with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SC) in the sum of US$6.1 million for 2017/18. According to the Administration’s 2017/18 Fiscal Policy Paper (FPP) Interim Report, the renewals, inclusive of discount, cover eventualities resulting from tropical cyclones, earthquakes and excess rainfall. The FPP, which was tabled in the House...