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The Net International Reserves (NIR) of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) was boosted to some US$2 billion, or 16 weeks worth of imported goods and services, Tuesday (September 1), after an injection of J$3.6 billion in budget support grants from the European Union (EU). This follows Friday's (August 28) disbursement of 74% of Jamaica's quota of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon. Audley Shaw, on Monday (August 31) confirmed that Jamaica received an allocation of 74% of its quota of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last Friday. The Minister said that with the allocation, the Net International Reserves (NIR) of the Bank of Jamaica have increased to over...

Dr. Wesley Hughes will officially take up his new position as Financial Secretary, in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, on Tuesday (September 1). Dr. Hughes served as Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), from 1995 until his reassignment. He succeeds former Financial Secretary, Sharon Crooks, who has taken up a position as an advisor...

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has acknowledged receipt of the Report on the Nurses Reclassification exercise from the Review Panel. This information has been conveyed to the Ministry of Health and the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), according to a release issued by the Ministry of Finance. The release stated as follows: "Minister of State in the...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, says that Jamaicans should soon start seeing repairs to their roads financed from the special consumption tax on fuel introduced in April. Speaking Wednesday at the weekly Post Cabinet Briefing at Jamaica House, the Minister reported that the glitches, which led to the Government receiving the payments from the Petrojam...

The Government is expressing optimism that the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will make a decision on Jamaica's application for balance of payment support, by the end of October. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, told journalists at today's (August 26) post Cabinet press briefing, at Jamaica House, that discussions with the IMF are...

The Commission of Enquiry into the Collapse of the Financial Institutions in Jamaica in the 1990s, chaired by Hon. Justice Boyd Carey (retired) has stated that, having regard to the vast amount of documents and submissions that have been received and yet to be received, it is not feasible for the Commission, at this juncture, to fix a date with...

The Government announced Tuesday (August 25) that increases in allowances paid to its employees, due from April, 2008, will be paid in September. Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator the Hon. Arthur Williams, who is conducting discussions with various public sector groups on salary issues, told JIS News that the advice referred to...

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have signed an agreement for a grant to fund an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Technical Assistance programme, valued at US$437,500. The agreement was signed at the Ministry's Heroes Circle office Friday (August 21). The objective of the programme is to support the Government's efforts to improve...

The Bank of Jamaica has advised that new-shaped one and ten dollar coins will go into general circulation as of September 8. The current seven-sided design (heptagonal) of the one dollar will be replaced by a round coin, with the heptagonal shape within the circle. The coin will continue to bear the portrait of National Hero, The Right Excellent Sir...

Executives of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private company of the World Bank, yesterday (Aug 20) paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding, a few days after opening their office for business. Vice President for Europe, Central Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean and Global Finance, Jyrkri Koskelo, said that the IFC is increasing its...

The Governor-General, acting on the advice of the Public Service Commission, has appointed Dr. Wesley Hughes, C.D., currently the Director-General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), to the post of Financial Secretary; and Mrs. Hillary Alexander, currently Chief Technical Director (Public Sector Modernisation) in the Cabinet Office, to the post of Permanent Secretary, in the Ministry of Energy and...