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Minster of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips on Thursday (May 24) announced a raft of tax measures that will raise more than $23.4 billion to fund the gap in the $612.4 billion 2012/13 budget. The Minister, who was opening the 2012/13 budget debate in the House of Representatives, said that a Special Consumption Tax (SCT) will be...

Finance and Planning Minister, Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips, says the Government will be pursuing vigorous implementation of a number of projects, which are expected to yield significant foreign direct investments (FDIs) for Jamaica, during the 2012/13 fiscal year. Chief among these are the North/South Highway link between Angels, St. Catherine and Ocho Rios, St. Ann, and enhancement of the island’s...

Minister of Finance and Planning, Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips, says the Government is committed to the downward trend in interest rates, and is not willing to go the route of a stimulus economic programme, as this means engaging in higher deficit expenditure, which could lead to a reversal of low domestic interest rates. “This administration is committed to doing all...

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...