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KINGSTON — Recently released data from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) showed that the level of net international reserves (NIR) at the end of November 2011, stood at approximately US$1.96 billion. The figure, though some US$70 million less than the US$2.03 billion in reserves recorded at the end of October, 2011, represents nearly 20 weeks of goods and services imports,...

Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw has outlined several achievements of the Finance Ministry including lowest interest rates in 30 years, single digit inflation despite the global recession, the JDX programme which saves Jamaica $31 billion annually in interest charges and the strengthening and stabilizing of the Jamaican dollar. Outlining the Government’s achievements since 2007 at a press conference at the Courtleigh...

KINGSTON — Advisor to the Minister of Industry Investment and Commerce, Dr. David Lowe, says that mobile payment services can facilitate commerce, by making business transactions more accessible, efficient and cost effective, especially for small businesses. Speaking at the Mobile Financial Services Conference on Monday December12, 2011, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, Dr. Lowe noted...

KINGSTON — Minister of Finance and Planning, Hon Audley Shaw, will later this week sign two loans, totaling US$ 198 million, with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to improve the Kingston Metropolitan Area’s water supply, as well as to assist in the modernization of the fiscal administration to improve customs and tax revenue collections. The loans, which have an interest...

KINGSTON — The Ministry of Finance and Planning has refuted the claim of deferment of PetroCaribe interest payments, which appeared in the Financial Gleaner on Friday, December 2, under the headline "Gov't may seek Deferring Payment to Venezuela". In a release Monday (December 5), the Ministry said that the Government of Jamaica has not sought, and is not seeking, to...

KINGSTON — Rather than exhausting itself and becoming an unsustainable drag on the national treasury, an appropriately reformed pensions regime can result in significant savings, while enhancing the security of the pensioner. This message captures the contribution of the Caribbean Actuarial Association (CAA) to the consultationson the Green Paper No. 2 – 2011, "Options for Reform of the Public Sector...

KINGSTON — Jamaicans in the Diaspora have been challenged to exploit the country's potential for realising a significant share of the US billion dollar Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. This charge was given at the recent 2nd Annual Awards and Scholarship Gala of the Jamaican American Bar Association, by Senator the Hon. Arthur Williams, Minister with responsibility for Information and...

KINGSTON — Premier of the Cayman Islands, Hon McKeeva Bush, is currently in Jamaica as head of a 6-member team on a study tour, lasting November 28-29. Premier Bush and his team, who are guests of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, will be specifically looking at the Government's procurement systems, inclusive of policies, procedures and legislations, which they have...

MONTEGO BAY — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Senior Resident Representative to Jamaica, Dr. Gene Leon, has said that his organisation is always willing and able to assist the people and Government o Jamaica. He said that Jamaica is one of 187 countries that are members of the IMF and part of the organisation's obligation to its members is to provide...

KINGSTON — Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson, says that the PIOJ is satisfied with its method of measuring poverty in Jamaica, as it is based on the Survey of Living Conditions which a very important global standard. Speaking against the background of media reports on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent report of...

KINGSTON — Minister of Finance and Planning, Hon. Audley Shaw, has urged self employed professionals to become tax compliant and file their annual income tax returns. Mr. Shaw made the call on Tuesday November 23, 2011 in an address to the Tax Audit and Revenue Administration (TARA) Post Graduate Diploma Programmegraduation exercise, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. “Come...

The number of revenue agents serving the tax administration department has been boosted with the graduation of 44 agents from the Tax Audit and Revenue Administration (TARA) Post Graduate Diploma Programme. The ceremony was held on November 23, 2011 at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. The revenue agents, who successfully completed a 13-month course at the Management Institute...