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Government is seeking to create a trust to make more funds available to the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB). Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding, said that the move will enable students to borrow more, match the repayment schedules to expected salaries, and have the loans spread over longer periods. The Prime Minister was speaking with students of the University of the...

The Jamaica Tertiary Education Foundation is to be launched soon, Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, told students attending a Town Hall Meeting at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Kingston on Tuesday night. "Today, I spent three hours with a team from the Ministry, looking at how we are going to manage and...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Honourable Audley Shaw, this morning (October 7), thanked the World Bank for extending a US$15 million loan for the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Project, which is aimed at improving market access for micro and small-scale rural agricultural producers, and for tourism product and service providers in Jamaica. The Minister was speaking during...

Effective Monday (October 5), the Registrar General's Department (RGD) will be making adjustments to some of its fees. The move comes as the Agency seeks to sustain its operations and achieve greater efficiencies. The new fee structure will reflect adjustments in services provided by the Island Record Office arm of the Agency. Recording of deeds or other legal writings, office...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has predicted inflation in the range of 10-12% or lower this year, due to exchange rate stability and moderate international commodity prices. "We expect inflation for the fiscal year to be in the range of 10 to 12 per cent, reflecting stability in the exchange rate and moderation in international...

Opposition spokesman on finance, Dr. Omar Davies, has said that the Opposition stands ready to work with the Government during the current economic crisis, but not without conditions. "This co-operation and this collaboration cannot be taken for granted. We have certain basis and certain principles on which we work, and we have no hesitation and we have no reservation in...

The Financial Secretary, Dr. Wesley Hughes, has dismissed suggestions that Jamaica's team negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is technically weak. "Together we have over 100 years' combined experience in negotiating with the IMF," the former head of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) said in an exclusive interview with JIS News. "I myself have 20 years of experience...

The Government's Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled in Parliament last week, is credible, technically sound and able to stand the scrutiny of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is the view of newly appointed Financial Secretary, Dr. Wesley Hughes, who told JIS News that the cuts made, though painful and tough, were necessary if Jamaica is to present...

The overarching goal of the newly appointed Financial Secretary, Dr. Wesley Hughes, is to make the Ministry of Finance the centre of excellence for financial and economic management of the country. In his first extensive interview since becoming Financial Secretary, the former Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, which developed Jamaica's 2030 Vision, told JIS News that "for...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, left the island on Wednesday (Sept. 30) for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank meetings in Istanbul, Turkey from October 4-7. While in Istanbul, the Minister is expected to engage in talks with Executives of the IMF including Deputy Managing Director of the Fund, Takatoshi Kato; officials of the World...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, said that the Government had to adjust its fiscal targets and present a revised budget of $561.4 billion, up from $555 billion, due to a number of deviations. These include revenue and grants of $11.6 billion, having fallen short of 9.7 per cent of the original target, and 1.6 per...

Government will apply changes to public sector fees and taxes next fiscal year. This was announced by Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, during an early morning sitting of the House of Representatives on September 30, following the acceptance of the Supplementary Estimates by the Standing Finance Committee. "We intend, in the next fiscal year, to roll out the full...