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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...

Minister of Finance, Hon. Audley Shaw, has expressed gratitude to the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DFID) for its $327 million (£2.4 million) in debt relief for the fiscal year 2010/11. The relief was granted on past official development assistance loans (ODA), through the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). Mr. Shaw reaffirmed the strong and historic relationship...

KINGSTON — The Commission of Enquiry into the 1990s financial meltdown and the role of the Government-established company, Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC), in the recovery of outstanding debts, will resume on Tuesday, April 12. Chairman of the two-man Commission, chartered accountant, Worrick Bogle, told last Thursday’s sitting that the Commission would not meet this week, as lawyers involved with...

KINGSTON — Anthony Hutchinson has been an accountant and a farmer for the past 26 years but, despite his skills, he is facing eviction from his 15-acre property, because of his inability to pay off a debt of over $12 million triggered by the 1990s financial meltdown. Mr. Hutchinson says that, after running into problems with repayment of his 1995...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, has said that fiscal consolidation and improved quality of governance are necessary preconditions to achieving investment and substantial growth in the Jamaican economy. Speaking in London Thursday at a Conference on Debt Management, sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr Shaw said that Jamaica's debt burden contributed to the country's lack...

Former insurance executive, Rev Ralph "Jim" Parkes, told the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990s financial meltdown on Tuesday March 29 that he is still unable to fathom why the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) failed to fulfill its mandate. “I left the industry in 1998, and I still can’t figure out why,” Mr. Parkes, who joined the priesthood after...

KINGSTON – Chairman of the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, Worrick Bogle, explained Tuesday March 29 that retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Henderson Downer, is not a member of the commssion, but its legal adviser. Mr. Bogle pointed out that following the removal of former chairman, Justice Boyd Carey, from the Commission, based on a court ruling, last September, a decision...

KINGSTON – Jamaica's Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon Audley Shaw, says the Caribbean remains committed to being a vibrant partner in the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) 'Decade of Latin America and the Caribbean (2010-2019)'. Mr. Shaw, who was speaking on behalf of the English-speaking Caribbean, at the 52nd Annual IDB Board of Governors’ Meeting’s 2nd Plenary...

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...