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The Early Childhood Commission has received $59 million for its Early Childhood Development Project in the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure. The project is geared towards improving the monitoring of children's development, screening of household-level risks affecting such development, and implementation of early intervention systems. The project also aims to strengthen and enhance the quality of early childhood schools and care...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding will deliver a National Broadcast on Sunday, April 5, on both radio and television. In his presentation, the Prime Minister will address matters relating to the 2009/10 Budget, particularly what Jamaicans can expect, especially in the current global financial meltdown. Mr. Golding's address will be aired on Television Jamaica (TVJ), at 9:00 p.m.; CVM-TV at 9:00...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon. Audley Shaw, has warned Jamaicans deliberately avoiding tax obligations, that more stringent measures are going to taken to ensure the highest level of compliance. Speaking at the official launch of the Tax Administration Costumer Care Centre, at the May Pen Revenue Department, Clarendon, Thursday(April 2), Mr. Shaw said a more equitable...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Dwight Nelson, has said that the Government cannot afford the wage bill which it will be saddled with in 2009/2010. "The Government cannot pay a wage bill of $149 billion," Senator Nelson said Friday(April 3). He explained that the Government is grappling with an increasing wage bill....

The management of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) wants insurance professionals to sensitise their clients about the products offered by the scheme. Director of the NIS, Denzil Thorpe, encouraged insurance agents, attending today's (April 1) quarterly meeting and induction ceremony of the Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (JAIFA), to introduce current and potential clients to the range of...

The Government will be reviewing the lending policy of the Student's Loan Bureau (SLB) to make it possible for beneficiaries to guarantee their own loans. Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday (March 31), noted that while SLB had done a "tremendous job" in assisting people to access tertiary education, there were still a large number...

Does it seem like your money is doing a disappearing act? Are you buying the same things, paying for the same services, but at much higher costs? Well, don't be too quick to blame it solely on the global financial crunch. The Consumer Affairs Commission(CAC) is urging shoppers to take a closer look at prices, and be much more vigilant...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Honourable Audley Shaw, today (Sunday, March 29) called on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other multilateral development partners, to put in place economic stimulus packages for small, heavily indebted, and highly vulnerable economies like Jamaica, and other Caribbean countries. In making the call at the 50th anniversary conference of the IDB,...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, left the island earlier today (March 27), for Medellin, Colombia, where he will attend the 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The event, from March 27-31, will include the 24th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC),...

Director of the Computing and Engineering Entrepreneurial Centre (CEEC) at the University of Technology (UTech), Owen Gunning, has suggested that the Government impose a heavy tax on the importation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the island. He said such a move could help to reduce Jamaica's emission of ozone depleting substances and bring the country closer to meeting its obligations under...

On March 18, 2009, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered Jamaica's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Jamaica to 'B-' from 'B', one notch down in the rating scale. The short term debt was also lowered one notch down from 'B' to 'C'. However, the recovery rating of '4' and the negative outlook remained unchanged. Simultaneously, the...

Head of the Caribbean Development Bank's (CDB) Social Sector Division, Yvonne Moses Grant, says the prevailing economic crisis presents Caribbean countries with an opportunity for creative innovative solutions to deal with the challenges. "We must be creative and imaginative, finding the best solutions to the problems we face, creating new employment opportunities to offset the anticipated layoffs at the workplace,...