Key capacity building initiatives are to be carried out under the Rural Economic Development Initiative this year, with an allocation of $246.7 million in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure. The project aims to improve market access for micro and small-scale rural agricultural producers, and tourism product and service providers. It is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF),...

The 2012 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions, which measures the living standards of Jamaicans, was tabled in the House of Representatives on February 24 by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips. Among the areas covered in the publication include demographic characteristics, household consumption, health, education, social protection, early childhood development and ageing. In his comments, Dr....

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting that the country’s labour force comprised 1,310,700 persons as at October 2014, an increase of 6,200 over the corresponding period the previous year. These figures are included in STATIN’s 2014 Survey of Living Conditions, which were disclosed by Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) Director General, Colin Bullock, during the PIOJ’s quarterly briefing...

Construction of the new Falmouth tax collectorate office in Trelawny is scheduled to start this year, at a cost of $35 million. The sum, which is contained in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before Parliament, has been earmarked from a $100 million Government of Jamaica Consolidated Fund allocation. The project aims to better position Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to...

A sum of $25 million is earmarked for the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) to continue work, this year, on the country’s National Policy and Plan of Action on International Migration and Development. The sum, which represents a $10.4 million increase over last year’s allocation, is included in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before Parliament. The project, which commenced...

A sum of $464 million has been allotted for this year’s continuation of projects under the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP) III. Details of the project are outlined in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the European Union (EU), began...

The Government has allocated $195.4 million to continue work to construct new offices spaces downtown Kingston, to house the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. The new facility will provide adequate accommodation for staff, meeting and conference facilities, and waiting areas for diplomats and other visitors. As stated in the Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives,...

Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Everton McFarlane, says the 2015/16 budget is a growth supporting budget. Speaking on the Jamaica Information Service’s (JIS) Issues and Answers television programme on Sunday, February 22, Mr. McFarlane pointed to an increase in the capital expenditure as well as spending on social programmes in this year’s budget, as measures that...