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The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), has said that there is already a high level of interest and positive feedback from the small business community about the recent roll out of the $150 million loan facility instituted by Government for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). "The interest has been extremely high.up to 200 persons had shown an interest...

Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett, has said that the insurance industry was an excellent avenue for economic growth. Addressing Guardian Life Insurance Limited's 'Stars Luncheon' at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on February 3, Mr. Barnett said that the industry was well developed, in terms of international standards and contribution to Gross Domestic Product...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has defended the Government's decision to cut expenditure in a number of areas, noting that the Government had to contain spending in light of serious economic challenges. "We are not making any apologies about it," the Prime Minister said in his contribution to the debate on the first Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure in the House of...

Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett, has said that Jamaica must use the period of the global economic slowdown to work to transform the economy and position the country on a path towards sustained growth. Mr. Barnett, who was representing Finance and Public Service Minister, Audley Shaw, at Guardian Life Insurance Limited's 'Stars Luncheon' at the...

Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett, has attributed the insulation of Jamaica's financial services sector from the contagion of the global economic downturn to the industry's regulatory framework. He said that the nature of the regulatory framework prevented the compromising of local institutions, consequent on the downturn which has resulted in the downfall of international financial...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Don Wehby, is optimistic that the reform measures currently being pursued by the Government, will yield economic growth for Jamaica. He was outlining the policy reform measures, for which the administration has secured US$100 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), during the signing of the agreement...

Funding for the Government's fiscal and debt sustainability initiatives has been boosted by a US$100 million (J$8.5 billion) policy-based loan, from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The facility will increase the support being provided to the administration by fellow multilateral funding agencies, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank, in the area of policy reform. Finance and the...

Commissioner of Customs, Danville Walker, has supported the decision to convert the department into an Executive Agency, but is concerned about the direction of the current agencies. "My position is, I fully support the idea of Customs becoming an Executive Agency. In fact, when I was making a decision in my mind to come to Customs, it was the single...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has warned public sector entities against holding on to foreign exchange and contributing to the pressure on the local currency. "We have too many public sector bodies that are out there competing for dollars in an uncoordinated way. We are going to draw them up. We are going to straighten them...

General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), Marlene Street-Forrest, has emphasised that regional collaboration provides the best approach to properly respond to global challenges. She said that while it is possible and necessary to pursue goals at the domestic level, the potential gains from doing so with a regional mindset and at the regional level, are significantly greater. Mrs....

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, says that the current challenges facing the Jamaican economy, provide an excellent opportunity to embark on the most massive programme of social and economic transformation the country has ever experienced. "This programme, although dictated by painful circumstances, has been long overdue. We need to focus our attention and sharpen our vision...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has said that although Jamaica is categorised as a heavily indebted, middle income country, it has been able to access nearly US$1 billion in funding, at low interest rates, from multilateral lending agencies since October 2007. Mr. Shaw made the declaration on Wednesday (January 28), while addressing the Fourth Regional Conference...