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President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith, says member countries must commit to a programme of reform in order to address existing challenges. He stated that countries that implement far reaching reforms stand to reap substantial benefits in terms of more robust and resilient economic growth “and greater capacity to address the curse of poverty and deprivation...

Minister of Finance, Planning and the Public Service, Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips, says the government is committed to the maintenance of a stable macro-economic environment. “The return to high interest rates is not an option,” the Minister said, while opening the 2012/13 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, on May 24. Dr. Phillips told the House that the foreign...

The Government is proposing a half-yearly report on the performance of the economy for each fiscal year, as it seeks to further strengthen the role of Parliament in providing oversight for the country's economic programme, and specifically, in controlling the debt. The report is being proposed  under the Financial Administration and Audit Act regulations, Minister of Finance and Planning, Hon....

Jamaicans are to benefit from a reduction in the General Consumption Tax (GCT), from 17.5 per cent to 16.5 per cent, which will result in a lowering of prices on consumer goods and services, which currently attract GCT. "This is the first in a number of steps that will be taken to reduce the standard rate over the medium term,"...

Some 24 experts in the local financial sector have been awarded post-graduate certification in financial services management, following their completion of a 14-month course via the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) e-Learning Campus. The course, which lasted from September 2010 to November 2011, covers a range of topics in the field of financial services, including risk management, global capital markets and...

President, Guardian Life Limited, Eric Hosin paints a section of the Promise Learning Centre located on  Hagley Park Road, Kingston 10 on May 23 during Labour Day activities at the school. The centre was given a facelift, including ceiling repair and landscaping work at a cost of approximately $1. 2 million. Approximately 130 Guardian Life employees volunteered for the project....

In support of its objective to complete preparation of a new Medium Term Social Economic Policy Framework (MTF), as well as the development of an integrated planning, monitoring and evaluation framework, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has been allocated $66.32 million in the 2012/13 financial year. This is reflected in the Estimates of Expenditure tabled in the House by...

The recently tabled Estimates of Expenditure 2012/13 contain some $63 million for the implementation of the Electronic Government Procurement system in Jamaica. The implementing agency is the Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service. The objective of the project is to strengthen the efficiency and quality of public procurement in Jamaica, through the development of an electronic government system...

A capital provision of $294.6 million has been made to the Fiscal and Administration Modernisation Programme of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service for the 2012/13 financial year. According to the Estimates of Expenditure tabled in the House on May 10, the funds originate from an Inter-American Development Bank loan originally programmed for the period December, 2011...

A sum of $132 million has been earmarked to continue implementation of the Community-Based Landslide Risk Management project. This is contained in the 2012/2013 Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled by Minister of Finance, Planning and Public Service, Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips on May 10, in the House of Representatives. The project is being implemented by the Office of Disaster...

The gross reserves at the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ), at the end of March 2012, amounted to just over US$2.6 billion, representing some 17 weeks of projected goods and services imports. This was stated by Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Brian Wynter, during his presentation of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Report for the January to March 2012 quarter. The...

The Bank of Jamaica is projecting that headline inflation will be within the range of 6.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent for 2012/13 financial year, largely similar to the previous fiscal year’s out-turn. This was disclosed by Governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ), Brian Wynter, during his presentation of the Central Bank’s report for the January to March,...