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The Export -Import (Ex-Im) Bank has dropped its lending rates to between 10 to 11.5 per cent for Jamaican dollar loans and 7.5 to nine per cent for US dollars loans, representing up to a two percentage point drop in loan rates. These new rates become effective October 1, 2010. Interest rates on loans accessed through the Bank's Approved Financial...

The Government has guaranteed a US$20 million loan by the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB), as the agency seeks to increase the pool of funds available to students wishing to pursue tertiary level studies. Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Information and Telecommunications, Hon. Daryl Vaz, informed journalists of the loan from the Caribbean...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, told participants in the 14th annual Americas Conference in Miami Wednesday (September 15) of initiatives being taken by the Jamaican government in response to the economic challenges facing the country. Speaking at a plenary discussion, "Caribbean After the Crisis" at the conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami, the Minister...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, says that while the reluctance of commercial banks to reduce interest rates is nothing new, the situation is most glaring this time around. Reiterating his concern about the unwillingness of the financial institutions to adjust lending rates, despite the new interest rate environment, Mr. Shaw said the practice has been...

A major road, the Christiana Development Road, is to be constructed in Manchester under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), at a cost US$6 million (approximately J$500 million). Making the announcement at the Manchester launch of the JDIP on Thursday September 9, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, said it will ease traffic in the town...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw says with the economy now stabilised, it is time to focus on issues of productivity, production, savings and investment in order to stimulate further growth. Speaking at the 11th annual Shirley Playfair Lecture at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston, on September 9, Mr. Shaw said that critical to...

Companies and self-employed persons are reminded that Wednesday, September 15 is the due date to pay their 3rd quarter estimated income tax for 2010 and also that the Tax Administration has introduced an online payment option to make it easier to do so. Business persons are now able to log on to the Tax Portal at www.jamaicatax-online.gov.jm from the convenience...

At the beginning of the 2010/11 academic year, the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) has processed some 10,000 loan applications for tertiary level students, of which only six are yet to be approved. This conforms to the approval rate of up to 98 per cent in the recent past. This update was provided to JIS News by the SLB, at the...