Financial Secretary, Devon Rowe, says negotiations for wages must be handled with great care to protect jobs in the public sector. “In the face of growth of 0.4 per cent (in 2014) we have to be careful in terms of how we agree to wages because they may not be sustainable. I think we need to engage in discussions that...

The Ministry of Finance and Planning (MOFP) is advising that the implementation of withholding tax on specified services is postponed, until further notice. The Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Honourable Peter Phillips and the Commissioner General, Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), Mr. Ainsley Powell recently met with stakeholders from various private sector groups and have agreed to delay implementation...

Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is advising that after careful consideration, withholding tax on specified services will now be implemented on June 1, 2015. The new legislation will be introduced on a phased basis.  At this time only Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as financial institutions regulated by the FSC and BOJ, tourism operators, utility and cable companies, grossing...

Manager of Revenue Enhancement and Resource Mobilisation at the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Calvert Thomas, says the Government is willing to work with persons who may have challenges to meet their property tax obligations. Mr. Thomas told JIS News that Jamaicans who find themselves in situations where they cannot pay their property tax may apply for a...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed one of its top advisors, Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan, as its new Mission Chief for Jamaica. Dr. Ramakrishnan, who served in a similar capacity in El Salvador, prior to her assignment to Jamaica, takes over from Dr. Jan Kees Martijn, who was the first Mission Chief under the country’s current four-year US$932 million IMF...

Jamaica is on course for a ninth drawdown from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), totalling US$40 million, based on the country’s performance during the January to March quarter, despite recording a shortfall in the 7.5 per cent primary surplus target for fiscal year 2014/15. Set a target of $121.3 billion for the end of March 2015, Jamaica registered $117.2 billion,...

Head of the Department of Economics, University of West Indies (UWI), Mona, St. Andrew, Dr. Damien King, says no fall-out is anticipated from Jamaica’s four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF), despite the country recording a budgetary primary surplus shortfall for the 2014/15 fiscal year. Set a target of $121.3 billion for the end of the March 2015 quarter, Jamaica registered $117.2...