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Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Arthur Williams, has responded to queries from several media houses about talk of a fourth year of wage freeze. In rejecting the suggestions, Senator Williams emphasized:“There was never any talk of, plan for, nor contemplation of any fourth year of wage freeze”. Senator Williams says that Mr....

KINGSTON — Former head of the defunct Eagle Group of Companies, Dr. Paul Chen Young, has accused the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) of abrogating its duty to protect locally owned businesses in the 1990s, resulting in the life insurance and banking institutions being sold out to overseas interests.  “The wholesale take-over of financial institutions by FINSAC was totally contrary...

KINGSTON — Former Eagle Group chairman, Dr. Paul Chen Young, says it will take many years for Jamaica to recover from the failure of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) to fulfill its mandate in the 1990s. FINSAC was established in 1996, to plug the losses resulting from the 1990s financial meltdown, which has been blamed primarily on the Government’s...

KINGSTON — Some $722 million is to be expended by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) during the new fiscal year to continue its economic planning activities. As set out in the Estimates of Expenditure, which is before the House of Representatives, the allocation will go towards the funding of a number of programmes being undertaken by the institute. These...

KINGSTON — Accounts lecturer, Anthony Hutchinson, told the FINSAC Enquiry Wednesday April 13 that although he never challenged the right of the Jamaican Redevelopment Foundation (JRF) Inc. to charge interest on his bad debt, he was not sure that it was entitled to do so. “My first issue was to pay off the debt. That interest rate, as unreasonable as...

KINGSTON — Up to 4,000 more Jamaican families will each year have the opportunity to own their dream home, with the assistance of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB), through its Secondary Mortgage Market (SMM) facility, which was launched Wednesday April 13 at the Terra Nova Hotel, Kingston. The SMM is a mechanism that provides liquidity to mortgage originators by allowing...

$1.15 Billion of $1.84 Billion for GoJ Institutions & Contracts    The Minister of Finance and The Public Service (MOFPS) has issued summary data for waivers approved for the month of February, as set out in the table below. A total of $1,841,789,198.88 waivers was issued, with the bulk ($1,151,291,466.46) going to GoJ-related transactions. Government contracts accounted for $643,054,642.37 of...

KINGSTON — Former Chairman of the Eagle Group of Companies, Dr. Paul Chen-Young, is scheduled to testify before the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry via videolink from abroad, on Thursday (April 14). Dr. Chen-Young, whose Eagle Group was a victim of the 1990s financial meltdown and was taken over the Government-owned Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC), emigrated to the United States...

MONTEGO BAY — A US$1.2 million (approximately $102 million) e-procurement technical agreement was signed between the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday April 12. Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator the Hon Arthur Williams, signed on behalf of the government, while IDB representative in Jamaica, Ancile Brewster,...

KINGSTON — Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon Karl Samuda, has assured manufacturers that the Government will not impose taxes on the sector, which could affect their production. “I can assure you, as the Minister responsible for this sector, that this Government has no intention of engaging in any exercise that is going to in any way, reduce the...

KINGSTON — St. Catherine farmer, Llewellyn Bailey, claims that unfair treatment by his creditors and his inability to continue paying his lawyer, after high interest rates drove him broke, led to his debts growing from $320,000 in 1996 to over $1.5 million by 2008, despite several payments. Mr. Bailey told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, Tuesday April 12 that, in...

KINGSTON — Despite the impact of the recent spike in oil and commodity prices in international markets, the gains made in containing the cost of living in Jamaica are expected to hold. The Bank of Jamaica has projected that the rate of inflation for the financial year will settle at the low end of the 7.5 to 9.5 per cent...