Steadfast commitment to implementation, and re-building confidence in the economy, are two factors deemed necessary for the success of Jamaica’s current economic programme and the country’s performance, under the new International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$932.3 million four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, and Head of the IMF’s Mission Team to Jamaica, Jan...

Minister of Finance and Planning, the Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips, is to meet with representatives of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) to review the recently released employment figures. Dr. Phillips made the disclosure during an interview on the Jamaica Information Service’s ‘Issues and Answers’ Programme recently. “I am going to be meeting with the STATIN people to see what...

The Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) is reporting that inflation during the April to June quarter was 1.2 per cent, well below the two to three per cent range projected in May. Making the announcement at the BoJ’s quarterly media briefing on Wednesday, August 21, Governor, Brian Wynter, who described the outturn as “encouraging”, said the figure is “way below” the...

Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Brian Wynter, is projecting modest economic growth of one per cent growth for the July to September quarter. This forecast, he says, is based on several factors, which were outlined to journalists during the Central Bank’s quarterly media briefing at the BOJ’s downtown Kingston offices on Wednesday, August 21. These factors, Mr. Wynter said, include:...

Last year the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) committed and disbursed over $1.2 billion to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, covering 200 small and medium sized business loans. The Bank’s funding activities have helped to establish nine new companies, 850 new jobs, and the maintenance of close to 7,000 existing jobs. Additionally, micro finance institutions on lent...

Officials of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) are confident that current efforts, led by the institution, to establish a sustainable venture capital industry, will be successful. This optimism is based on what DBJ Chairman, Joseph Matalon, and Managing Director, Milverton Reynolds, say is a more in-depth approach to incorporating targeted stakeholders in the process. The Jamaica Venture Capital Programme...

The Jamaica Venture Capital Programme (JVCP) is to be launched on September 9, during a special conference being hosted by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. Chairman of the DBJ, Joseph Matalon, says the activities being undertaken by the institution for the programme’s implementation over the next three years, will be unveiled during...