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Jamaica's ability to protect its borders will be further reinforced with the signing of an agreement with Panama to enable its Customs to undertake investigations in that country. "We have signed agreements this week to work with the Panamanian Customs, that we have the ability to launch investigations from that end," Commissioner of Customs, Danville Walker, told the Jamaica Chamber...

Growth in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region is expected to register an impressive 5.7 per cent this year, slowing to 4.5 per cent in 2011. This was noted by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Senior Advisor for the Western Hemisphere Department, Mr. Gilbert Terrier, at the launch of the Regional Economic Outlook, held at the Bank of Jamaica...

Growth in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region is expected to register an impressive 5.7 per cent this year, slowing to 4.5 per cent in 2011. This was noted by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Senior Advisor for the Western Hemisphere Department, Mr. Gilbert Terrier, at the launch of the Regional Economic Outlook, held at the Bank of Jamaica...

Some US$20 million is to be injected into the Students Loan Bureau (SLB), through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The House of Representatives on (October 26) passed a resolution for a Government guarantee for the loan, which will help provide affordable and adequate financing for students from poor households to complete tertiary level programmes in approved local...

Governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ), Brian Wynter is to sign a contract for his tenure as head of the central bank with the Government within a few days, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw has disclosed. Mr. Shaw was responding to questions put forward by Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Dr. Omar Davies, in the...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding this afternoon launched the Tax Incentive Programme (TIP) through which private, public sector agencies and individuals will be offered incentives to participate in the restoration and revitalization of the old capital, Spanish Town. The programme will be managed by the Urban Development Corporation which will act as agents on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has advised persons seeking to establish businesses to consider equity financing over the high interest rates charged by some financial institutions. "Instead of paying interest rates at the banks that would make your projects unviable, consider going to the junior stock exchange for your equity financing," Mr. Shaw said. "We...

A grant of $1.728 million Euros ($203.83 million) was signed Friday (October 22) under the Tropical Storm Gustav Recovery Project, at a press briefing at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service in Kingston. The grant is being provided by the European Union (EU), through the World Bank. The funds will be used to support government's efforts to restore...

At least 40 public sector officials will benefit from the 'Introduction to International Best Practices in Public Procurement' course, which was officially launched on (October 19) by the Management Institute for National Development (MIND). Deputy Financial Secretary, Public Expenditure and Coordination Division in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Robert Martin, in his address at the launch held...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, says his meetings with Jamaica's multilateral partners in Washington and tour of seven European cities, went "exceedingly well". However, he emphasised that the trip was a scheduled one, and not primarily for the purpose of seeking funding for damage caused by Tropical Storm Nicole. "The original purpose of the visit...

An interim Central Treasury Management Fund System (CTMS) will be in place by April 2011. This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw during the sitting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 19) at Gordon House. The CTMS aims to ensure better management of public resources, by bringing the responsibility for treasury...

"We cannot make blood out of stone," Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, has responded to criticisms of the Government's position on pay increases for public sector workers. "It's not a statement of arrogance, it is a factual statement. Let's start talking honestly to one another," Mr. Shaw suggested to the trade unions, as he responded...