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Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller on Wednesday, March 20, commissioned into service the New Forest/Duff House Irrigation System in Manchester which will provide a consistent and stable water system for some 497 farmers. The Prime Minister also handed out land titles to 20 of 132 farmers for whom titles have been prepared under the irrigation project and...

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, saysthere is need for a review of the overall arrangements of the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB), to address, among other things, the high delinquency rate. “There is too high a delinquency ratio in relation to some of these funds and loans on the portfolio. It is designed as a revolving fund,...

Discussions are underway involving the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank, regarding the extent of their commitments in support of the IMF programme for Jamaica. This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, during the sitting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 19. He was...

Jamaica has received US$2.4 billion in funding support from Venezuela under the PetroCaribe agreement, since the facility’s establishment in 2005. Chief Executive Officer of the PetroCaribe Development Fund (PDF), which administers the facility in Jamaica, Dr. Wesley Hughes, says the funds, allocated between July 2005 and January 2013, have financed projects, spearheaded at the community and national levels. Speaking at...

A Bill which seeks to empower the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, to write off arrears of taxes as well as penalties determined to be uncollectible, was approved by the House of Representatives on March 12. Piloting the Bill, the Minister noted that this is part of the overall commitment to general tax reform and...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to inject US$210 million into the Financial System Support Fund to assist institutions that may experience difficulty as a result of the National Debt Exchange (NDX). The additional support will bring the amount in the fund to US$850 million, up from the US$640 million that the IMF originally put into the facility, when it...

Persons owing property taxes have been responding positively to the drive by the St. Elizabeth Parish Council to collect the outstanding amount of $870 million. This was noted by Mayor of Black River, Councillor Everton Fisher, at a Social Development Commission (SDC) parish forum, held on March 11 at the St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS). The Mayor said that...

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, says the signing of an agreement with public sector unions, has provided a level of certainty in the wage bill, without which there would be no deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said the IMF is “concerned that there should be little risk of surprises” which would require sharply...

The Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service is to issue a circular outlining the tenets of the agreement signed with public servants to restrain wage increases over the next three years. Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry, with responsibility for Public Service, Hon. Horace Dalley, says the circular will be issued to managers in the various departments and...

The Government on Wednesday, March 6, crossed one of the final hurdles on the way to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the signing of an agreement with public servants to restrain wage increases over the next three years. The Heads of Agreement for the 2012-2015 contract period between the Government and Public Sector Unions/Associations representing...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is expecting some recovery in the domestic economy for the January to March quarter, with marginal growth projected in the range of zero to one per cent. Governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), Brian Wynter, gave the forecast as he addressed the BOJ’s quarterly press briefing held on Monday, February 25, at the Bank’s...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, has welcomed the official opening of a new MegaMart store in Mandeville, which she said, will provide a host of economic opportunities. In addition to employment, local producers are expected to supply the store with an estimated $500 million in produce annually. The Prime Minister praised the MegaMart chain of wholesale clubs,...