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KINGSTON – Repeated successes in meeting the quantitative targets under the Standby Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have resulted in increased confidence in the growth prospects of the economy. This is reflected in the increased preference for Jamaica Dollar assets during the fiscal year, strong net international reserves (NIR) of US$2.17 billion and healthy gross international reserves of...

KINGSTON – World Bank Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean, Marie Lucie-Morin, has stressed the need for collaboration between private and public sector stakeholders in the Caribbean, to ensure effective enforcement of the regulatory regimes governing remittance transfers. This, she contends, is necessary to achieve an efficient and secure flow of remittances into the region, by mitigating factors...

KINGSTON – Former Jamaica Bankers Association President, Elon Beckford, told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry into the 1990s financial meltdown on Thursday March 24, that the initial sign of trouble was the Bank of Jamaica's (BOJ) first intervention into a major financial institution in 1995. Mr. Beckford said that the intervention was a “game changer,” and most of the indigenous...

KINGSTON – Former Bankers Association of Jamaica president, Elon Beckford, told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry into the 1990s financial meltdown on Thursday March 24, that the initial sign of trouble was the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) first intervention into a major financial institution in 1995. Mr. Beckford said that the intervention was a “game changer”, and most of the...

KINGSTON – Former Bankers Association of Jamaica (BAJ) president, Elon Beckford, has denied that inefficiency caused indigenous financial institutions to fail in the 1990s, while the foreign-owned institutions survived the high interest rate regime. Using his management team at the Horizon Financial Services group then as an example, Mr. Beckford told the FINSAC enquiry Thursday morning March 24, “I challenge...

KINGSTON – World Bank Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean, Marie Lucie-Morin, says remittance flows to developing countries are likely to increase to US$374 billion by 2012. She says this is consequent on the resilience of the earnings of persons in the countries of remittances origin to the global financial crisis. Mrs. Lucie-Morin was addressing the opening of...

KINGSTON – Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett is imploring investors to be selective in choosing where they invest their money. He also pointed out that long term investments tend to be less volatile and more growth oriented.  “If you are being promised a guarantee with extremely high short term returns that sound too good to...

Members of the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry had a private meeting Wednesday morning March 23, to discuss speeding up the enquiry to meet an April closing deadline. Chairman of the Commission, Worrick Bogle, told the media, following another aborted sitting on Wednesday March 23, that while the Commission is concerned about the slow pace, it understands the problems facing the...

KINGSTON – The House of Representatives, on March 22, approved the Second Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure of $497.61 billion for 2010/11. Some $212.4 million has been added to the $497.398 billion in the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled on March 15 by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw. The additional expenditure relates to...

KINGSTON – Seasoned realtor, Lascelles Poyser, who has lost millions in properties since the 1990s meltdown, says that he still empathizes with colleagues who have either committed suicide, or have died from stress related ailments triggered by their losses. “I can easily empathize with my colleagues who have committed suicides. I was told there were persons in a similar position...

KINGSTON – The issue of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) not being represented at the enquiry into its own operations, was raised at the meeting on Wednesday March 16. Secretary to the Commission, Fernando dePeralto, told JIS News that FINSAC was invited to participate in the enquiry, but have chosen not to be present. Chairman of the Commission of...

KINGSTON – A proposal has been made for the establishment of a commercial lifestyle centre for entrepreneurs and residents operating and living downtown Kingston. This recommendation has been made in a Growth Inducement Strategy, being developed through a special secretariat established in the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ). Making the disclosure during a Growth Strategy Symposium at the Jamaica Conference...