The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) have partnered to establish the annual Public Sector Corporate Governance Awards. The initiative seeks to recognise and reward public bodies that have established high standards of corporate governance disclosure and practices. It aims to promote awareness of and adherence to the principles of good...

Unemployment in Jamaica continues to decline, with the figure at 12.9 per cent as at July 2016, the lowest quarterly rate in five years. This is according to the latest Labour Force Survey undertaken by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The rate for the July quarter was 0.2 per cent lower than the figure recorded for January 2015 and...

Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Brian Wynter, says commercial bank credit to the private sector continues to grow steadily. He said provision of credit for the 12-month period ending September 2016, increased by 14.3 per cent, relative to the 7.8 per cent for the corresponding period last year. Mr. Wynter said that this reflected strong credit growth of 12.2 per...

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a three-year US$1.64 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Jamaica, as a signal of its continued support of the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ) economic programme and the strengthening of the country’s macroeconomic framework. The Stand-By Arrangement will replace the existing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) which was scheduled to end in March...

Jamaica’s inflation rate continues to decline, with the figure falling to 1.9 per cent for the September 2016 quarter. This was 0.6 per cent lower than the out-turn for the June quarter, Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Brian Wynter, has reported. He also indicated that the September out-turn represented the eighth consecutive quarter in which inflation had declined. The Governor...

Several companies in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector are seeking to set up operations in Manchester and other areas of central Jamaica, says Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw. The Minister said, recently he met with the president of Sutherland Global Services (SGS), and he indicated that their most productive BPO facility is located in...

Central Bank Governor, Brian Wynter, is maintaining that the Jamaican dollar is fairly valued at the current exchange rate of just over $129 against the US dollar. Speaking at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) quarterly media briefing at the bank in downtown Kingston, on November 14, the Governor said that economic assessments support this, and that the Bank of Jamaica...