Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw and Minister of State Hon. Fayval Williams, today  met with co-chairs,  Richard Byles and Governor Brian Wynter of the Economic  Programme  Oversight Committee (EPOC)  for a briefing on the work of the committee. In the meeting, the Finance Minister expressed appreciation for the contribution of EPOC through its oversight of...

The Accountant General Department  (AGD) is urging pensioners who have not submitted their life certificates for the January to March quarter, to do so as soon as possible, or risk non-disbursement of their pension payments. In an interview with JIS News, Client Services Manager at the AGD, Tanisha Weir Grant, says thousands of pensioners are at risk of not receiving...

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is reminding entrepreneurs in the mining industry that they can access funding through the bank’s credit facility for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Account Executive at DBJ, Mark McKenzie, informed that through its network of approved financial institutions (AFIs), the DBJ guarantees loans of up to 80 per cent for entities, up to a...

The Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) is reporting that the Government’s tax revenue intake for the first nine months of the 2015/16 fiscal year ending December totalled $291.7 billion, which is $6.6 billion above budget. EPOC Co-Chair, Richard Byles, said the figure is $33 billion ahead of the intake for the corresponding period in 2014/15. He was addressing journalists at...

Jamaica surpassed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Primary Surplus and Net International Reserve (NIR) targets for the October to December 2015 quarter, and is well positioned to pass the 11th economic review for the period. Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Co-Chairman, Richard Byles, says the Primary Surplus stood at $66 billion, which exceeded the $60.7 billion target, while the NIR...

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is partnering with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) for the management of the DBJ’s Voucher for Technical Assistance (VTA) programme. The entities recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to outline details of the arrangement, under which Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) will be able to access a variety of business support...

Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, has reiterated that there will be no wide-scale redundancies within the public sector. “There is no such plan,” Dr. Phillips asserted, while speaking in the House of Representatives, recently. He noted, however, that a number of posts within the civil service have been abolished and there are plans to abolish...